Stop and Drop: The Reflection

For my digital project I decided to look into the weeks that were most interesting to me, these were weeks 6 ‘personal devices and public spaces’ and weeks 8 ‘attention, presence and place’. I choose these topics because I wanted to identify what emotions that are attached to our devices when we have them and when we don’t have them, as well as uncovering the way we interact with our devices in relation to our attention span.

After extensive research into the topic of our attention span and anxiety felt towards not having our phones with us, I decided to conduct a social experiment to see just how truthful these claims really were. I was out to prove the statements made from a study conducted by Microsoft Corp (MsSpadden, 2015) for myself. The statement made by this study was that the human attention span has dropped from 12 seconds to 8 second, 1 second less than the attention span of a goldfish, which is sitting at 9 seconds. As well as combat some of the statements made by Phone Addiction (2015) on phone addition on millennials and other avid phone users.

My research was spilt into three different parts, the first of which was my research stage, finding out what information and studies were already out there regarding phone usage, attention span and phone addiction. Once this was established I moved onto my social experiment to obtain qualitative research on the emotional connections we have with our devices. The social experiment that I conducted was spilt into two sections, an observation stage and the experiment stage, each lasting 30 minutes each. I also conducted a survey to gain more data both a qualitative and quantitative front; this expands my research from detailed explanation and statistical information, as “both qualitative and quantitative methods of research play important roles in product development” (Madrigal and McClain, 2012).

From developing this project I have learnt how to put together a research project, which utilises more than just a survey, branching out into an experiment in response to the information I had found. In order to successfully conduct this experiment, I had to manage my time effectively to gain enough resources and present my results in a visual and engaging way. To keep on track with the different elements of this project and meeting my goals I created a timeline of when each element should have been completed by to give me time to change or improve upon what I had gained in terms of results. “Timelines are important in evaluating the feasibility of your project. Inexperienced researchers tend to underestimate the amount of time that the various stages of research will take” (Develop a Research Proposal).

While conducting this research project I have come across many risk that could hinder the progression of my research, therefore critical thinking was needed to prevent these risks from happening. The majority of the risk that would be associated with the qualitative data found within my experiment, as this is the data that can be seen as most harmful towards participants. “Qualitative research is primarily exploratory research. It is used to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations. It provides insights into the problem or helps to develop ideas or hypotheses for potential quantitative research” (Snap Survey, 2011). To over come each of these risks I have created a risk-planning table to refer to during the course of this research project.

For more information on my research project refer back to my pervious post, Stop and Drop: The Research, were I talk about the background information on the topics I have chosen to talk about and further my knowledge on.

Research of this nature can be presented in a visual and engaging way, which is something I considered when looking at ways to present the results I found during the course of this research project. For this research to be effective on media platforms is it important for visual engagement to be present, if you wanted to convince media industries of the pressing issues at hand. Personal accounts from this type of research as seen through my social experiment highlights the pressing issues and can deepen the connection of people on a more personal level.

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References:

Madrigal, D and McClain, B 2012, ‘Strengths and Weaknesses of Quantitative and Qualitative Research’, UX Matters, weblog, September 3, viewed 19th October 2016 <http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2012/09/strengths-and-weaknesses-of-quantitative-and-qualitative-research.php&gt;

McSpadden, K 2015, ‘You Now Have a Shorter Attention Span Than a Goldfish’, Time, weblog, May 14, viewed 19th October 2016 <http://time.com/3858309/attention-spans-goldfish/&gt;

N/A, Planning the Methodology – Timeline, Develop a Research Proposal, viewed 19 October 2016 <https://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/researchcourse/develop_writing_methodology_timeline.html>

Phone Addiction 2015, ’25 Surprising Facts About Phone Addiction’, Addiction Tips, February 22, viewed 19th October 2016 <http://www.addictiontips.net/phone-addiction/phone-addiction-facts/&gt;

Wyes, S.E 2011, ‘What is the Difference between Qualitative Research and Quantitative Research?’, SnapSurveys, September 16, viewed 19th October 2016 <http://www.snapsurveys.com/blog/what-is-the-difference-between-qualitative-research-and-quantitative-research/&gt;

 

Stop & Drop: The Infographic

Below is an infographic I created that shows the results of my survey conduct in the last couple of weeks in a visual and condensed manner. This information supports my findings from the social experiment I conducted a week ago, if you wish to take a look at that video click here.

The results found were conclusive to my initial hypothesis that many people in the age group of 17-21, also known as millennials, find it difficult to not have their phones or other electronic, Internet devices on them at all times or be interacting with them. The results also found that many people have less of an attention span when their phones or devices are around them, supporting the claims made that humans now have an 8 second attention span less than that of a gold fish who has a 9 second attention span.

Follow the rest of the infographic to find out what other interesting facts my research has found.

 

Stop & Drop: The Social Experiment

This is the social experiment I conducted in response to the research I found on the human attention span and the anxieties surround our phones, as mentioned in my previous post. This experiment follows Alanah, (who has given consent for her information to be used and viewed on a public forum), to better understand her interaction with her phone.

For this experiment I spent half an hour monitoring Alanah’s attention span while watching TV counting how many times she touched or interacted with her phone. For the other half hour, I took Alanah’s phone away from her and monitor her reaction and feelings towards not having her phone around her.

Watch the video above to see how the experiment unfolded.

Comment below your thoughts on the research and how you would feel if your phone was taken away from you. Do you think 30 minutes without your phone is excessive like Alanah?

Also, your participation would be greatly appreciated if you could complete my survey to give me more information for my research. Your answers will remain anonymous but will be placed on my blog for further analysis and to draw a conclusion.

Stop and Drop: The Research

After the course of 9 weeks in the BCM240 lectures and tutorials I have come to a conclusion on the premise of my research project. Drawing from the content found in weeks 6 ‘personal devices and public spaces’ and weeks 8 ‘attention, presence and place’ lectures as well as pulling from my own experiences and emotions from anxiety felt with our devices and our attention span, I wish to shed some light on how we as a society in a newly technological age interact and feel about our devices.

Now let’s take a set back and imagine a time where everybody actually talked to each other, there were no technological distractions, no dinging of Facebook messages or whistles of tweets coming your way. What I like to call a simpler time!

Hard to imagine right?

Try imaging this…“A group of people wait by a monument, unaware of each other’s existence. A woman strides open-mouthed down a busy street, holding one hand across her heart. Two young men – brothers? – stand behind a white fence, both their heads bowed at the same angle.” – (Tom Chatfield, 2015)

Have you ever been in a similar situation (not as dramatic as this one), where something is happening but you’re too amerced in your phone to notice? Or would you in fact notice the situation and capture it on your phone to share with your online world?

Almost every city in the world has its streets packed with people doing the same thing, all taking the same positions bowed down to an electronic device. This has cause two problems in our society today, one our attention spans for everyday tasks is met by us taking 2 hours out to look at our phones and mindlessly scroll through our social media apps.

How many of you have sat in a lecture hall or in a tutorial and witnessed most of the class with their laptops open, but are tapping away on their phones or mindlessly scrolling through Facebook? I can’t say that I am no exception to this; in fact I have just spent an hour scrolling through Facebook while trying to complete this sentence.

If you don’t think this is bad, a new study conducted by Microsoft Corp found that the “average attention span for the notoriously ill-focused goldfish is nine seconds, but people now generally lose concentration after eight seconds, highlighting the affects of an increasingly digitalized lifestyle on the brain” (McSpadden, 2015).

The study also confirmed that 77% of 18-24 responded ‘yes’ when asked, “when nothing is occupying my attention the first thing I do is reach for my phone”. These findings coincide with a British study conducted in 2014, which found that the average person shifts their attention span between their Smartphone, tablet and laptop up 21 times in an hour. This need for constant engagement with digital devices leads me on to the second problem we have society, that being many people over the age of 18 being addicted to their phones.

From studies conduct on this topic here are some facts on Smartphone addiction (Phone Addiction, 2015):

44% of people have stated that they become very anxious when they lose or misplace their phones, also stating that they would not be able to go one day without their phones.

91% of generation Y revealed that they take their phones with them everywhere, even to the bathroom. Also highlighting that 80% of 18-24 year olds sleep with their phones right next to them.

The need to have your phone with you all the time, has caused 80% of people to have phantom vibrations, through the belief their phone is ringing but in reality is isn’t.

This has lead the average person to check their phone 110 times a day while more addicted people check their phones up to 900 times a day.

This has become such a pressing issue that scientists have named the fear of being without a mobile phone as nomophobia.

Research methods:

In order to conduct my research and find analysis the results of peoples emotions and their interactions with their devices, I wish to product a survey whereby, I shall ask anonymously what individuals habits are when it comes to their phones, social media and their anxieties to their phone. I will slipt the survey into three parts, asking questions about attentions spans, their feeling towards their devices and how they would feel if they were not to have their devices on hand.

Meanwhile, I shall be conducting my own social experiment, where I shall be videoing the response of how many times an individual picks up or get distracted by their devices while in everyday situations as well as taking their devices away from them for an hour or two and recording their responses on an emotional level once being away from their devices for such a long period of time.

With each of these research methods I will be collecting both quantitative and qualitative, the reason for this is to ensure I get the most out of my responses in terms of statistical facts as well as in depth opinions that spark discussion and further research. “Both qualitative and quantitative methods of research play important roles in product development” (Madrigal and McClain, 2012). Quantitative research looks at numbers and gathering statistical information, which will help strengthen my research in terms of the percentage of participants who feel anxiety without their devices or do not feel anxiety without their devices. Qualitative research will give me a greater understanding to the emotions created with the connection of our devices and how often our attention is or is not lost due to distraction of our devices or lack of attention.

The One With The Reflection

During the last nine weeks of the BCM240 (Media, Audience and Place) course, I have transformed and redesigned my blogging habits and posts thus to engage with my already established audience as well as my newly found audience. In order to create a more professional atmosphere within my blog posts as well as on my blog in general some changes had to be made. This meant looking into how to word my blog posts in a way that would showcase the content in a creative and respectful manner. This course in particular focused greatly on research and interviewing participants for their responses, this meant a certain aspect of care, respect and responsibility had to be take when relaying the information gathered onto my blog. Therefore it was imperative that I had the consent from my participants to use photos, videos and their own content from their answers to my questions. Thus meaning I had to transform my blog into a safe place where this information could be freely accessed but also looked at in a respectful manner. To combat these issues, research into how to write a successful profession blog post was done as well as research into consent when writing publicly which was interlinked with the weekly topics found in the lectures, tutorials and weekly readings.

Morten Rand-Hendriksen (2011) clearly presents how you should behave while blogging online and identifies the responsibilities bloggers hold when it comes to their creative content. Hendriksen places great emphasis on the codes of ethics based on the codes and ethics of the Norwegian Press as blogging and content online is linked closely to the bases of these rules, stating “this role carries with it a responsibility to be fair, honest and respectful not only towards your fellow members of society but also toward fact” (Hendriksen 2011). This source is something that I had to look carefully at when creating content for my blog on the topics that I mentioned, were sensitive and needed careful consideration.

In order to engage with my already established readership and allow for an expansion of my readership, I decided to take a different approach to my blogging and express myself in a more personal manner, thus allowing my audience to get to know me. “To achieve your business goals, your blog needs a personality to make it stand out in the sea of information competing for your target audience’s attention” (Cohen, 2013). This statement is something that has stuck with me this year while I have been redirecting my blogging practices. I have found that by adding my own personal flare into my blog has meant that my readership has increased and has spread across to many parts of the world that I could have only imagined for my blog to go. By following the tips on ‘9 Tips To Develop A Winning Blog Personality’ has allowed my blog to grow, however, this source does combat the issue through a marketing perspective therefore some to the tips had to be changed or manipulated to fit the atmosphere and purpose of my blog. Adding personality to my blog was a main focus of mine to gain readership, I did this by adding my own personal stories into my posts as well as making videos, something that I enjoy doing to add a different element to my blog as well as change the layout of each post.

I feel like I have constructed my blog as a foundation into the course topics, as well as into who I am both as a persona and as a blogger. By using the topics mentioned in the lectures has allowed me to establish a foundation for my posts, by allowing further development of my understanding of each topic by finding examples and research into the technical aspects. The formula I have taken with my blog has allowed my writing style to change and develop as the weeks have gone on as well as allowed for a varied audience to come through my blog and see what I have created. I have also add the element of discussion within my posts, by asking for people opinions and comments on the topics or examples that I have been referring to, this helps me engage with my audience more and also adds to the personality of my blog.

Another aspect of my blogging practice that I have implemented is the layout. Not only is the layout of my individual posts eye catching, by adding various pictures to keep the audiences attention but has also been integrated into the categorisation of my posts as well as the key words that have been tagged to ensure my posts receive maximum reach. Both the categorisation and tagging of my posts have different advantages that allow for a greater reach, “tags are meant to describe specific details of your post…your site’s index words” (Editorial Staff, 2016), and “categories are meant for broad grouping of your posts…they help identify what your blog is really about” (Editorial Staff, 2016).

In response to the first assignment task, I have learned that I need to be more thorough with my sources and add more information into the research tools I am evaluating or exploring to give more depth and meaning to my posts. I have tried to do this by adding more definitions to my posts about the core concepts to give the extra element of professionalism as well as having the ability to engage with my audience on a deeper level by providing them with extra information so they can use that as a foundation for their own research into the topic if they wish.

A key aspect that has allowed me to gain a larger and wider audience has been the mentioning of blogs written by different and varying authors, especially those of my peers who are taking the same topic in a different direction. This I feel has allowed my audience to expand their knowledge on the topics, which I have not covered, therefore creating a network around the subject and its content. Something that is mentioned in an article written by Adam Connell in 2016 on ‘How To Boost Engagement On Your Blog (So It Doesn’t Look Like A Ghost Town)’, this particular article does give me extra pointers on how to approach my audience in a different way to maintain and expand on my readership.

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References:

Cohen, H 2013, ‘9 Tips To Develop A Winning Personality’, Heidi Cohen Actionable Marketing Guide, weblog, 7^th February, viewed 27^th September 2016 <http://heidicohen.com/9-tips-to-develop-a-winning-blog-personality/&gt;

Connell, A 2016, ‘How To Boost Engagement On Your Blog (So It Doesn’t Look Like A Ghost Town), Blogging Wizard, weblog, 15^th September, viewed 27^th September 2016 <http://www.bloggingwizard.com/reader-engagement/&gt;

N/A 2016, ‘Categories vs Tags – SEO Best Practices for Sorting your Content’, wpbeginner, weblog, 13^th April, viewed 27^th September 2016 <http://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/categories-vs-tags-seo-best-practices-which-one-is-better/&gt;

Hendriksen, M 2011, ‘Code of Ethics for Bloggers, Social Media and Content Creators’, weblog, N/A, viewed 28^th September 2016 <https://mor10.com/code-of-ethics-for-bloggers-social-media-and-content-creators/&gt;

Access…Denied or Granted?

When it comes to media and the regulations that sit behind how we use the online space can often be blurred between our own perspectives of what is right and wrong and our need for privacy and general concern for copyright. The media regulations that are in play can be found in both public and private spaces from censorship to relationship and in-the-home rules.

Media regulation refers to the control or guidance of mass media by governments and other bodies. Following closely in the footsteps of TV regulation whereby censorship in many countries regarding social media access, can be denied when related to certain topics. Hence why many YouTube videos and other online content can only be viewed in certain countries or alternatively cannot be viewed in various countries. As made evident in countries such as, China, North Korea, Turkey and many more.

Media regulation can also come in the form of copyright, when it comes to downloading and streaming content. This topic has a very blurred foundation in regards to whether it is or is not acceptable to take content for free. Many will argue, that if the content is available on a free platform to stream or download, why would you not take advantage of the opportunity? However, others believe that downloading content is detrimental to the industries making the content.

But what are the actual implications of downloading? People continue to download as they don’t see the effect or the implications on themselves to stop. The exception being with an 29 year old man from Rhode Island being fined for $675,000 for downloading and sharing 30 songs, however this seems to be the only case where actual implications for such an act has been pressed. Therefore how can you draw the line for what is wrong and present media regulations for downloading and streaming?

But let’s take a step back and more across to the private spaces of media regulation, regulation monitored in the home. Historically media regulation online through social media and generally on the Internet is usually linked with children, youth and those who can be potentially harmed, through sites and content they should be or shouldn’t be subjected to.

As a child I had parental control on the Internet along side a time limited that would monitor not only the content I was looking at but also how long I was spending online in general. This was to ensure my safety while online but also gave my parents peace of mind while I was on the Internet. However, to do this now through our devices on social media platforms that we have and interact with would be rather difficult unless permission has been given to access the platforms. Therefore tapping into the topic of privacy. In order to monitor the movement young children, youth and the potentially harmed make online through social media, means access to these platforms must be granted, whether that be by giving out passwords for those to peruse your page or allowing free access. However, where does the line stop in regards to how in depth someone can monitor your accounts and your movements made online?

Media regulation on any level, private or public is something that we must all be cautious of and take extra care with how we use our devices and how present ourselves online. But having someone control and monitor your every move on a platform that is designed for free thinking and voicing your opinion could be a breach of your privacy. However, how can the government and any other bodies use media regulation as an excuse to enter your private domaine?

Would you allow for someone to monitor your social media accounts? Do you believe downloading content is acceptable?

Comment below all of your thoughts and opinions.

My Attention Span

 

This week I was meant to conduct a small experiment on someone to test their attention with the presence of social media devices. However, I thought instead of testing someone else, I thought I would test myself. Now to give you an indication on how bad my attention span has been just this morning, it is showing that media devices do cause a lot of distraction.

This morning I woke up at 7:00, did and workout and decided by 8:30 I was going to be unbelievably productive today so I could have my Saturday free before having to go to work on Sunday. However, I have spent 5 hours going down the rabbit hole of YouTube before finally realising that it’s 1:30 and I should probably get some work done.

What my computer screen looks like right now…ooops?!

I would like to put a disclaimer out there that I am usually very good at trying to overcome my distractions that are connected to social media or anything else for that matter. However, I have recently become a tremendously busy person who has no time to really stop and take time to relax. Therefore, when I find myself doing something I don’t really feel like doing I do find myself actually looking for a distraction to take myself away from having to completely the task at hand.

Although today is very much proving to be a very difficult day for me but should make for a good review of distractions and social media.

Now I must say that when I have multiple plies of work to complete I do find myself multi-tasking not only from one project to the next but also from social media accounts to tap into my free time at the same time. Admittedly I also do this during my classes at uni (sorry mum and dad). But as well all known our generation of people who have grown up with the rise of social media and constantly being connected is somewhat of a necessity for us. I often feel like it is a subconscious act when we get our phones out when we’re bored or go straight to our laptops when someone says something that interests us and we want to look it up then and there. I often don’t even realise that my first instinct is to reach for my phone or laptop, but the fact of that matter is that I can’t always live without my devices that can and will connect me to social media.

Although I’m not the type to constantly post things on social media I am the sort that will endlessly scroll through posts until I get hungry or fed up…usually the hunger kicks in first. And I often can leave my phone at home and go about my day (keeping in mind, usually whoever I’m with has their phone on them). However, there are a lot of people in the world who can’t live without their devices or being connected. Scientists have now concluded that humans have a shorter attention span to those of gold fish, highlighting that the human attention span has decreased from 12 seconds since the 2000’s. Coinciding with the introduction to smart phones, therefore making it clear that smartphones and our need to stay connected have affected our attention spans dramatically to 8 seconds, which leaves gold fish better than us at a 9 second attention span.

I use to have a friend who would constantly be on their phone when we went out, this would infuriate me something stupid! I couldn’t grasp how someone who wanted to see me and hangout with me couldn’t take the time to put their phone down for an hour and actually take in what was happening in front of them.

(This video is a perfect example of what I’m talking about…just saying.)

Honestly I still can’t fathom it and it annoys me far too much when people do that. I mean I guess I can’t be all that upset because I in fact do it myself on odd occasions and it is part of my lifestyle however, I do believe that it is good to disconnect every once in a while.

Project Proposal

To be quite frank I haven’t put much thought into what I wanted to do for my digital narrative in my BCM240 course. It has taken me much longer to try and figure out what it is I want to tackle and how I want to tackle it. But I have come up with some sort of an idea, taking from lectures 6 and 8 I wish to explore a select handful of people on their device habits and observe how they interact with their devices on a daily bases. I will use the tools of ethnography to help with the progression of my project, drawing comparisons from each individual I have interviewed to gain a broader perspective on our connectivity to our devices and online.

I wish to create a series of experiments in different social situations to see how people are connected to the online world and how they feel about being in a social situation without a phone or some sort of device at hand. I want to showcase how it has become a necessity part of our lives to have a phone beside us at all times and how without it can cause a level of insecurity and anxiety.

As someone who has grown up with different platforms to share our thought and opinions on it does strike my curiosity into how we would lead our lives in a different manner if we were not so connected all the time and how people would about their surroundings and themselves if they had lost the ability to do so.

It would be great to get a better understanding of the relationship we uphold with our devices and the online world, have our online habits changed into what we deem as reality or can we still draw the line between real life and our online life.

Can you not take a picture of me?

 

But did you really?

Now I’m all one for people watching but when it comes to taking sly picture, I’m really no good at it, even if it’s just a picture of myself or of my friends I just find it very difficult to do. I don’t if this is because I’m afraid I’ll get caught in the act, but I know unlike many of my friends who can take a decent picture of the hot guy walking pass, I do not possess that skill.

The extent of my sly public photography.

So trying to capture a picture for this week’s blog task proved rather difficult, as the question of ethics pondered over me. If I was….wait, if I could take a picture of someone in public I wouldn’t put it on any public forum just keep it for myself and then delete it off my phone in a couple of weeks when I forget why I have it. Which changes the whole situation as for this topic it would mean placing it on my blog for the whole world to see. Which unless it was a really embarrassing picture maybe wouldn’t too much of an issue but the umbrella of ethics stretches further than that.

So lets take a step back and take a look at what ethics mean in public photography and public posting of said content. There is a break down of legal and ethical concerns when it comes to taking photos of someone without their consent. In a private setting you need this permission however, the rules change when you enter the public space. In a public space you do not need the permission of an individual that you capture in your photography, this is from a legal standpoint however, from an ethical standpoint things can change as not everyone has your views or beliefs and wish not to be publicly broadcasted on a public forum.

Garry Winogrand was famously known for this photographic approach of not asking for consent of those who appeared in his pictures. His approach leads me on to another group of photographers that often use this method to get what they need, they are known as the paparazzi. The paparazzi, and how time and time again they breach the code of ethics when they photograph celebrities and passers by. The paparazzi violate the code of ethics by taking their need for their next pay check too far by placing not only themselves or their subjects but also everyone around them lives at risk. However, pushing aside passers by who often know when to back up and stand their ground, lets focus on the celebrities. Now one may argue that if you step into the limelight you should brace yourself for this sort of personal and private invasion. Putting your public life on television (especially for those on reality TV) have no room for complaints. However, this is just a form of opinion and the fact of the matter is, they have every right to wish they are left alone especially by those with cameras following their every move.

Paparazzi, often like animals herding around in packs of around 10-15 men at a time, creating horrible situations for their subjects and to make matters worse for women especially shouting out profanities to get a look of distress and sadness to sell to the tabloids. The case of Sienna Miller, gives clear account to how the paparazzi take their public photographing to the next level.

“For a number of years I was relentlessly pursued by 10 to 15 men, almost daily… Spat at, verbally abused… I would often find myself, at the age of 21, at midnight, running down a dark street on my own with 10 men chasing me. And the fact they had cameras in their hands made that legal.”

– Sienna Miller, 2011

It horrible to think tat in our culture these are the types of images we want to witness all to get a great angle on a piece of gossip that usually isn’t even true.

Going back to my dilemma of public photography and keeping this example in mind, how can you truly know what breaches codes of ethics when it comes down to public photography, and most of all how to overcome the issue of ethics especially for projects where those images will appear on a public forum. With a big group shot it is hard to give everyone the heads up that they may appear in a photograph and therefore get consent from every passer by. Unless you are apart of a big production or news corporation chances are you will not do this.

My approach would be to snap the picture and run like hell, but something tells me this wouldn’t be the best of methods. Though there are not real laws against people and public photography, in Australia “there are no publicity or personality rights in Australia, and there is no right to privacy that protects a person’s image. However a person’s image can constitute ‘personal information’ under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) with the consequence that there are circumstances in which businesses and agencies subject to that Act may breach the law by publishing a person’s image.” (Street Photographer’s Rights, 2016)

But the only loophole I can think of is just taking pictures of people you know and with their permission post those if needed or don’t capture any faces or unfortunate acts. But if you’re really unsure your best bet is to consult the Street Photographer’s Rights manual for all the ethical and legal breaches you may come across.

What do you think of ethics and public photography?

Leave your thoughts and comments below.

Through My Eyes: Movie Magic

Let’s make one thing clear my memory sucks!! So now that I have to recall my own memories for a successful or failed attempt at going to the cinema, will take a little work and a lot of time.

But here goes nothing!

To be honest I don’t go to the cinema all that often, I usually like to make a special day of it if I an to go. Picking a good film, which I’ve been dying to see (these can be popular culture films or just films that I think I’ll enjoy), selecting the pre and post activities to keep the spirit of the day alive. It all comes together like a ritual, not only for the day but also for other days that involve going to the cinema. However though I may only be able to choose the pre and post activities (or at least get a say on the matter), when figuring out where to sit in the cinema is a different card game all together.

Now I do believe there are certain steps that must be taken into consideration when choosing the cinema, the film, seating arrangements and of course who it is that you go with. Each of these steps can be broken down into Hagerstrand’s three constrains in relation to attendance and logistics of cinema viewing.

Capability Constraints – limits on human movement due to physical or biological factors…access to mobility tools and the availability of temporal and financial resources for conducting activities and making trips (Hagerstrand 1970, Schonfelder and Azhausen 2010, p.38).

Coupling Constraints – restrictions on the autonomous allocation of time due to the need to coordinate with institutional logistics…or interactions with other individuals (Hagerstrand 1970, Schonfelder and Azhausen 2010, p.38).

Authority Constraints – limits on when activities can or cannot take place or where they must or must not be located, imposed by external parties (Hagerstrand 1970, Schonfelder and Azhausen 2010, p.39).

In short this refers to can I get to the location, can I get there on time and am I allowed to be there.

When I go to the cinema the closer the better really, up until recently I have always lived within a 15 minutes drive from the closest cinema making an easy and fast day out to spend with the family and friends. However now that I have moved to a new and developing suburb, it makes matters a little more difficult. Therefore, some serious planning has to be taken regarding timing.

As for the seating arrangement, whether I be with friends or family I still don’t seem to have much say on where in the cinema we sit, apart from knowing as a well rounded rule for all of us…it has to be in the middle of the cinema theatre!! When I go with my family, we have to sit in the seats close to the barrier so that my dad and brother have enough legroom (curse the height gene in my family, that I apparently grow out of after year 6!) When I’m with my friends it’s always up the back so we not only have full viewing of the screen but also of everyone around us. Makes for great people watch before the film actually starts!

Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003)

Now I don’t have a particular memory of a successful or failed trip to the cinema, however I do have a memory that sicks out at my like a sore thumb. And that would be my first 3D movie, and of course it would be none other than Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over! I can remember the anticipation I felt to go a watch this film, pretty much begging my mum to take me to watch this spectacular film. I wanted to experience 3D picture first hand, with my cardboard glasses with red and blue lenses. That is and will always be the best day of my life! But since then I haven’t felt as excited to watch a film or actually go to the cinema and enjoy and amerce myself in the experience. Instead I am quite content with staying at home and watching a film I like on Netflix or even DVD (I know who still owns and buys DVD’s….that would be this girl!)

For years now the cinema experience has depleted as streaming site such as Netflix, Stan and Hulu have entered the film market, taking over the want or need to venture out of one’s home to see a film, as they are cheaper, easier and more convenient. In 2014 the cinema industry saw it’s attendance plunge, seeing its lowest attendance since 1995.

“Web-based video streaming and illegal downloads are challenging the long-term prospects of the cinemas industry.”

So what does this mean for the cinema industry? Will the cinema industry cease to exist now that virtually everyone is able to get their hands on film content at a push of a button with little cost involved?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Here’s a short video to allow you to reminisce on how far the film industry has come!

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Reference List:

Schonfelder, S & Axhausen KW 2010, ‘Time, Space and Travel Analysis: An Overview’, in S Schonfelder & KW Axhausen (eds), Urban Rhythms and Travel Behaviour: Spatial and Temporal Phenomena of Daily Travel, Ashgate Publishing Company, Surrey, p.29-48.