Final Video Project

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMrQlnOMK_0

Here is the link to my final video. Enjoy!

Globalization of News Events

Case Study 3

The three news sources that I used were BBC, New York Times and China Daily. In all three of these sources there was an article about the Prostitution scandal dealing with the secret service and military personnel.

Main key points that were identified in these articles:

-Sex Scandal… in all of the articles this problem was identified as a scandal.

-I also noticed that in the BBC and New York Times sources the women that were involved were mentioned as women, but in the China Daily they were mentioned as prostitutes.

-The main argument or question that was brought up in each of the articles was whether or not the women were actually prostitutes or if they could have been some undercover threat against the US.

-Now the main focus of these articles is trying to figure out what these women were doing in the hotel room of the secret service and military men’s room.

-In the China Daily this was noted as an ‘incident’ but in the New York Times it was described as ‘late night activities’

-How these secet service men and military personnel should be punished for what they did.

-If these women are a threat against the information that was in the hotel room at the time

For the most part these news coverage’s were fairly similar there were some different choice words that were used in each one of the sources. The main hard facts and interviews that took place about these stories were all the same and they had some of the same conversational log but there were some different wordings in each of the sources. On all three of the websites this news story was on the front page of the website which makes me believe it is a big story in the news today.

The BBC, New York Times and the China Daily were all sources used in this project. Key points of these stories were what exactly the men were thinking bringing potential prostitutes into their room when they have such a protected job. These stories also tried to figure out the truth of whether or not the women were actually prostitutes or if they were some undercover source that could potentially threaten the US. And then finally these stories all described the further action that needs to take place to investigate how these men will or should be punished for their actions. For the most part all three news sources had the same hard information but there was a little bit of different wording that was in each and every one of them.

Niche Project

Making or selling a new product that not many people have heard about would have been difficult 20 years ago. Today, and in this day and age, I think that doing this wouldn't be very hard at all. I think that because mostly everyone has a Facebook, Twitter, blog or other personal website, I think it's easy to get a message out there virtually.
If I started my own business or had my own product to try to sell, I would start with posting adds about it on Facebook and Twitter. These two sites alone would help me get a great start. All my closest family and friends are using both of those sites so it would be easy for them to see and have them post and repost my product. Having that close tie would then be helpful for my products existence to be spread virtually anywhere!

A College Student’s Idea of a ‘Well-Branded’ Digital Image'

After reading What Does a Well-Branded Digital Presence Look Like a perspective of how future employers, and anyone else looking at your personal websites or blogs, are put in place. This digital presence isn’t just for those looking for a new job but anyone that has their digital identity or presence out there. The qualities that this article suggests are great to have as your digital presence included: websites or blogs conveying a strong sense of who the person is and what they have to offer. This concept is pretty clear cut, if a future employer or anyone else looking at this digital presence it’s a great way to try and get a sense of what that person is like through their photos, blogs and other items online. Another quality that is mentioned is how easily one can learn about the person through their personal website or “About Me” section. Another would be if they have branded themselves in interesting and compelling ways. This may intrigue anyone who is taking note of this person. It could also be a way to have them stand out in some way shape or form because of something interesting that they have done. Lastly, if the person seems like someone you’d like to get to know better. They also mention bonus points for having a warmth-projecting photo of him/her on the website.

                Five criteria that represent what I believe are essential for a college student to have a well-branded digital presence include, (1) About Me section… this is helpful for anyone to get a short and sweet message about who you are, where you’re from, interests and other things about you. This is a quick way of trying to get on a personal level with that person. Another concept that I believe is important for a college student is (2) a welcoming cover photo and no crazy photos throughout your website or blog. This is very important because if not taken seriously it would give off the wrong message of maybe what type of person you are. (3) Well thought out layout or message you’re giving off from your background or other photos on your page. I think it’s important to express your individuality without crossing lines. It would be hard to stay intrigued by someone’s website if it were boring and too plain. (4) Easily accessed or easily navigable website or blog. This is important because if the visitor of your site has trouble navigating around your site they may get frustrated and be turned off by this idea. I think it’s important to be able to navigate clearly and easily. And lastly (5) a positive image clearly relayed in your site or blog. This should include some of the fun or exciting things you’ve done but not cross the border of telling too much about you. If your image is positive and uplifting to the visitor, it will make a good impression in their mind on how you might be a good fit for their company.

                I think that after reading that article and developing criteria that are essential for a college student, it’s clear to see that I would need to change my digital presence. I use Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest on a daily basis and there are way too many things out there that I would need to change. Although I’m still in college and have two more years until graduation, I think that starting early on making these changes will help me. It may be beneficial to do sooner rather than later.  

5 YouTube Video Critques

We were asked to critique 5 YouTube videos on the basis of the film making. It was interesting to watch these videos and critique them on this instead of the actual content of the video, just because I had never looked at it from this perspective before.

1. Sh*t Soccer Girls Say- This video was pretty clear and the quality of it was good. There weren't any undesirable affects that happened in this video. I liked how the clips went from one scene to the next without any flaw.

2. Baby Laughing Hysterically at Ripping Paper- This video was different from the first one that I watched because it wasn't as good of quality of taping. You could tell that it was a home video. The luminance was less bright in this video than in the first video. However, this video was hilarious!

3. Funny Videos of People Falling- This video was a film with random clips of people falling. They didn't seem to be pieced together very well and the quality wasn't that great. In mostly all of the clips the luminance was pretty dark and sort of blurry.

4. Taylor Swift, Ours- This video was obviously made from the best quality because it is the official music video for this song. The quality seemed great and the brightness was perfect throughout the video.

5. Makenzie from Toddlers and Tiaras- This last video seemed to be professionally made for this show but sometimes throughout the video the brightness didn't seem as bright as it could have been. It seemed like it was dull during some points. The different clips though, fit together perfectly. There wasn't any dull time in between.

Skype

I first downloaded Skype when it became a big thing when my friends and I started moving away for to various colleges. At first I used Skype a lot, using it to talk to my friends in different cities so we could actually see each other. Then after a couple of months I grew away from it. The next big time that I used Skype was when I studied abroad in London last year. It was a great tool to talk to my family and friends, for FREE!
Although Skype seems like the perfect solution for long distance relationships with family and friends, there are some downfalls that I have found while using Skype. The first problem that I ever encountered while using and downloading this tool were the technical issues that I came across. The downloading process and searching for friends process seemed too complicated for how it really should have been. It seems like such an easy process to find and search for friends, but it really wasn't all that easy. Another technical issue that I came across while I was in London, was the freezing and fading in and out of the screen when I was in a conversation. It got pretty annoying that this happened quite frequently, and it made it hard to contact my friends and family.
There are however some great uses that this has provided. Of course the free and easy way to contact people is such a plus! I really like how this is free and there isn't any charge. I think it would be so easy to charge people for this, and I really think that people would pay for it too. It's also nice that there is an option of using the telephone tool which you can make calls through your computer. I used this while I was in London because it didn't freeze as often as when I did a video chat. It was nice because it was so cheap! One girl in our program who lived in my apartment while I was over there bought the "calling plan" and since she paid monthly a set charge (which was VERY cheap) she let everyone use it to call home if they wanted. You weren't charged with how many minutes you used or anything like that, so it was a great way to talk to my family and friends. Another great way that this is used is for interviews across the US. Companies now are using Skype to set up interviews instead of traveling across the US to do so.
Overall, I think Skype is a very useful tool and I marvel at the invention that someone came up with!

Photoshop