Smell-o-vision.

Avid inventors for years have been trying to develop the idea that a viewer could not only watch and hear a film, they can smell it also.  Even though scents used with the combination of film dates back to 1906, the technique was created by Hans Laube and only appeared in the 1960 film 'Scent of Mystery' - hence the title. During the film's showing in a cinema, 30 different smells were somehow released into the air when triggered by the film's soundtrack.

The whole idea of 'smell-o-vision' sprang to mind when the advert for the new Spy Kids movie was shown. As a kid of around the age of 8, i loved the films, now not so much. The advert explained that there is a new thing called 'Aroma-Scope' (why its called 4D) and i knew i had to research it.

'Aroma-scope' is basically a card which when instructed to, the viewers can smells certain sections of the card which match what is going on visually. This comes at no additional cost. These cards let the young audience get involved with the film, it offers something new, alien and interesting.

Even though i have no plan whatsoever to go see this film, i am secretly hoping that this will develop further into films more aimed at my age - but I'm not to sure this will happen very soon - is it more of a child's thing which they will find amusing?

Year brief generalization.

I just thought id do a really quick post which rounds-up what brief i am planning to do this year:

- The first two pages of a local newspaper aimed at educated adults around Norfolk.
- A poster for the newspaper which will advertise a headlining story. I will photoshop it onto a billboard to demostrate what it will really look like.
- Produce a radio advertisement for my newspaper. Doesnt have to link to any of the stories.

Let it be a good year ahead!

Time-Management

These 6, nearly 7 weeks have given me the chance to choose and plan what my brief will entail. It has shown me that my time-management can be quite good. As i am one to do quite a lot of work in detail, as i did last year, i want to get as much work done as i can as early as possible - making me stress less near to my exams.

I want to get the two pages of the newspaper and the radio advert out of the way first as i know these will take the most time, and probably the most difficulty. The poster will be the quickest and easiest for me i believe - a few hours on Photoshop.

I will make sure i always have enough time to blog about every stage of me producing these artifacts.

The Skills i Will Need to Accomplish the Brief.

In order to create all of these briefs, i will have to be:

• Creativity - not only through language, but visually also.
• Organised - not just by doing everything i need to and knowing where that is, but also be organised with the time i have.

Potential Routes for Exibition and Distribution.

The newspaper

If i was really to release my two pages of my newspaper to the public i would go the traditional route of putting them up for sale in newsagents around the local area. Just like the other newspapers that are about, i would also try supermarkets and petrol stations etc. These are also locations where my target audience is likely to go.

When newspapers are sold on shelves, newspapers are layed on the flat surface at the bottom because they are more flimsy than magazines. I don't think there is any particular order they are in.

There are also people who sell the daily newspapers from vans which are often parked on a busy pavement - especially around my area.


The radio advertisement

As i am creating a local newspaper, i would need to advertise my newspaper on Norwich/Norfolk radio station. I also need to think about the times the advert is to be heard: on the school runs and rush hours - when my target audience is most likely to be in the car or listening to the early morning news.

I need to think up a script and find a narrator when i start to produce it.



The sandwich-board poster

Just like my research earlier, sandwich-boards are usually outside the newsagents where the newspaper can be bought, this is why i still want to focus my poster on being displayed via, because it gains a lot of buyers - lots of people will see it. Both sides of the board normally have the same eye-catching story on it, as each side will catch the passers by from both sides. This way of selling doesn't only advertise the headline of a certain newspaper, it also indicates where the newspaper is being sold, therefore being more convenient for potential buyers. Whatever form or articles i choose to do with my newspaper, i think i would be able to make a sandwich board poster for it.

The Likely Target Audience of my newspaper

As i have hinted along the way, i am more up for doing the first two bullet-points: a poster for the newspaper and a radio advertisement for the newspaper.


The likely target audience for my local newspaper would i think, be the educated, older/adult audience. The way i write and present the articles and posters will determine what audience will want to buy and read the artifact. The newspaper will be a local one - so a Norwich/Norfolk audience, therefore the news must be local to them. As the newspapers around this area mainly sell for way under a £1, a wide audience will be able to buy it - from all types of backgrounds.

I did a presentation on a PowerPoint about the general target audiences of newspapers:

Newspapers’ target audiences

View more presentations from osmithas

I need to make sure that my poster and radio advertisement target my chosen audience also. I could do this through the production, publishing and distribution of the two artifacts.

Joining SlideShare.

As it is not possibly to embed powerpoints straight onto prezi or blogger, i have decided to join 'SlideShare' in order to do this. SlideShare is a online slide hosting service and you can upload your powerpoints to it in order to share them.

My Technological Developement: 1994-present day

I was planning to do a powerpoint, however i am not able to get it onto blogger or even onto prezi, so i have had to make it on prezi instead. This presentation shows the technology i have been in contact with as soon as i was born the the exact moment now. I've had to give-or-take the amount of technology as my memory goes, but these technologies are the most rememorable. I have dated each year - this is not nessesarily the year the technologies came out as i havent got eventhing as soon as they were released - but each year represents when i got or was in contact with a technology. I may have got something one year and still have it, this timeline just shows the first time i got something, and where a technology device is repeated is when i upgraded or got a new one. Keep in mind that i am probably a part of the 'late majority; when it comes to the Diffusion of Innovation Theory.

My Technological Development on Prezi

Second presentation and year brief.

This is the post where i choose what brief i want to do this year. Its quite a big desicion, so i am going to consider a lot of them. As i did filming last year, i really want to do a bit more print this year as last year i did a lot of filming. The brief that im most interested in is number 8:

' The first two pages of a new local newspaper, together with two of the following three options:

• a poster for the newspaper
• a radio advertisement for the newspaper
• two hyperlinked pages from the paper's website'

I have to think about all of these three bullet-points to make sure i am choosing the two i will excell most in. I wanted to do print because i also do English language, so i can combine skills and knowledge to help me when writing the articles. There are a lot of things i need to research like target audience; how the products will relate/support eachother; potential roots for exhibition and distribution, the skills and strengths i have which will advantage me, time-management.  I also need to make sure i look at other newspapers, radio advertisements for newspapers and hyperlinks from newspapers' websites.

First i will consider all of the three bullet-points:

• The poster for the newspaper

Where will it be seen?
I need to consider where my poster will be to grab my target audiences' eye. As this is going to be a poster advertising a LOCAL newspaper, the adverts need to be shown locally. By local im thinking the city i live in, however, for research purposes i could heighten that area for England. I have pin-pointed a few local newspapers which i am planning to focus on for ideas:

.

Posters for newspapers are often on 'sandwich boards' which are then planted outside newsagents. The audience sees the poster then goes to buy the newspaper to read more about it.

What will it look like?

From the two above photos of the sandwich boards, i can see that the posters are simple, black and white and eye-catching. The bold letters can represent breaking news, news which is worth reading about.

How will i create it?

I will have to create it on photo shop, as i have to apply the criss-crossing elastic onto the poster to make it look realistic. I might also do two versions of the poster: one of the poster design as a whole, and another one of the poster on location - like the above-right poster.

The second bullet-point:

• A radio advertisement for the newspaper

Now and again when im listening to the radio i hear a newspaper advert. The advantage of the radio is that it can be listened to anywhere. I wasnt able to post any real radio newspaper adverts, but i managed to find some on youtube which were made by some last year media students:

Instead of exentuating words with capitals, it has to be done with volume and intensity of the words instead. Finding the perfect voice for the advert is important. Do i make it a funny or serious advert?

• Two hyperlinked pages from the paper's website

This looks like one of the most difficult ones for me as i have to make a website in order to add hyperlinks from it. These hyperlinked pages will include two other articles, so i would also have to design and write them - VERY TIME CONSUMING. I have never made a website page before so i have no knowledge in that aea whatsoever. This bullet-point seems like one of the most unlikely ones to do, however, in still want to reasearch and consider it:

The website's home page:

A hyperlink from the home page it:

http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/home

                                                                                          http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/uk_riots_latest_norfolk_police_sending_officers_to_london_1_988913

As you can see the hyperlinked page is quite similar to the home page, so they both look linked and from the same newspaper. The pages become recognisable. I have also noted the layout of the newspaper articles and the adverts on the pages.

'Challenging Homophobia' video

A friend and i volunteered to film and edit a collapsed curriculum day which was about challenging homophobia. I didnt know what to expect but i kept my cool and here is the end result! The speed of the film had to fit with the speed of the song. We also had to follow certain specifications that 'Mr A' wanted:

https://www.o2learn.co.uk/o2_video.php?vid=1476

Film studies.

In the lessons which aren't about theory, we are watching films which are greatly linked to postmodernism. The first film we have completely watched is the Micheal Gondry directed drama/romance/sci-fi film 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. After watching we did a sheet to over-look the film and to look deeper into the plot and circumstances. Here it is:

This sheet writes good factors to why this film is considered postmodern. It is a very original and intricate plot with unexpected characters and visual happenings. On http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/eternal_sunshine_of_the_spotless_mind/ 93% of voters liked the film, showing that postmodernism films can have a wide audience.

In conclusion, i thought the film was cleverly done, however, I'm not too into film which are surreal and jump from place to place. With this film, you have to not look at each scene separately, but almost all of the film at a whole to understand the concept and happenings. The characters are interesting, humorous and dramatically different, but making this part of the films charm. There is a strong message, but is made for the viewer to find that out. It is an intellectual and in depth film made for an audience who dont like order and thrive on weird circumstances.



The Two-Step Flow Theory

Define: It is linked greatly to the art of communication. Somebody talks about an artifact to somebody else, then that person goes to research it and so on - spreading the artifact around gaining an audience.

I looked at this theory a little bit last year and i know what a postive effect it has on a media atifact or brand. While researching Rihanna for my first presentation, i did a diagram of the cycle but focused on her. I wanted to do another diagram of the two-step flow cycle as generally as i could:

The Two-Step flow concept is quite a simple one. It all about the communication of a media artifact no matter how that communication is done.



The Cultivation Theory

To define: The cultivation theory is by Wikipedia definition is a social theory which examined the long-term effects of television on audiences. It is a study to find out whether watching television influences our everyday life. There is the idea that watching a violent film may influence somebody to be violent, or watching a romantic happy-ending film may make someone feel that something like that always happens in real life. This theory explores the idea that television can make us believe certain things which may not be possible in the real world.

The media day

I can link the cultivation theory to a collapsed curriculum day we had a while ago that i didn't post about...We had to set ourselves into groups and decide whether we wanted to do a printed article or a short film to express an idea or argument. We as a group decided to do a print article that would be featured on an online news website. We all had to take roles such as the editor, writer, printer and researcher etc. In the end, not on purpose, we all contributed to all of the roles. The argument that we came up with was: "Is the fictional world of film and television hindering our ideas of reality?" This links to the cultivation theory greatly.

The Diffusion of Innovation task

This task that i have been assigned was given to me by Mr Darlow: http://sites.google.com/site/darlowmedia/assignments/y13mediastudies-diffusionofinnovation

The print screen of the page reads if too small to see: "Develop a concept for a new technological device. Consider who you are aiming the product at and develop a marketing campaign to suit the early adopters and how you would develop the marketing strategy after the 'scarcity' phase. You should make two of the following:

•TV advert (storyboard for)

•Web advert (banners, columns, web page)

•Print advert

•Billboard


•Advertising slogan"

In an even more basic form, i have to design a technological product aimed at a certain audience and then figure out a smart way to market that product. Make sure i suit the marketing campaign to the audience. The 'scarcity' phase is when the product becomes slightly less popular so i have to find a way to overcome that.

Getting Started

Annoyingly I'm not much of a techno-buff, so becoming an inventor of a technology product is a big step. However with a few minutes thinking i have come up with an idea which i think would be interesting to develop further and to market. I have tried to link this product with my life and how it would advantage me - making it easier for me to understand and market the product:

• Solar powered phones? Just like some older calculators, they would be powered by light. This would mean even though there would still have to be a battery in the phone itself, there would be no need to charge - therefore making it cheaper and easier to run. You charge wont run out when you need it. This could also cause a few complications though, there may not be enough light, so making calls at night could be difficult. Good for the environment, but the phone might look unattractive and be expensive to buy but not to run.

I chose to do this as it is very simple and there are a lot of points for it. People will buy into something which advantages them in the long run. Even though when i search into google-images 'solar-powered phones' examples do come up, however i plan to take this product to main-stream culture.

I want to aim my product at the early adopters - audience who are quick to take up the technologies, the visionaries and creators. These people are mainly in their 20s to early 40s. I cant help but think also men would be more likely to be involved in my product. The look of the phone will probably be quite black due to the solar-panel. They work in the technology industry and would be one of the first people to get the product. Stereotypically they would probably be middle class due to their jobs and their adoption of products. Specifically ones which have an interest in saving money and being environmentally friendly, so i want to mention that point through the marketing process. Even though they would only be saving money on electricity charges, its better than nothing.

I need a marketing campaign to suit the early adopters. I want the campaign to be something which involves technology however i don't think I'm suited to creating a website.

After the 'scarcity' phase where sales go slightly down, i really want to 'BOOM' the campaign. Make the product advertised everywhere my audience will be.

The two ways in which i will market the product:

• A billboard. This is because it catches a wide audience throughout a city as they go past in their cars and walk by. People in their 20s-40s (the probable age of the early adopters) are very likely to be driving cars. The posters are huge - attention seeking.
• A print advert. I want to do this in a magazine aimed at my audience. I will have to define whereabouts in the magazine i would prefer the advert to be. I would probably create this on Publisher or photoshop.

The billboard

The billboard is going to have to look different from the print advert as a different amount and diversity of audiences are going to see it. I have done some research on the location of advertising a product similar to mine:

This billboard is in the London underground, so when passengers are waiting for their train they will look straight ahead to see the poster. It gathers a wide and diverse audience.

 This billboard is in America, however it has been thought out well where the placement of the poster is. When a car stops at the traffic lights, they are quite likely to look at the poster.

This poster is huge and probably in the middle of a busy city. Right now i am looking at the location of the posters and not the poster design itself.

Overall, i would think it would be a good idea to place the billboards somewhere where people have to stop like traffic lights or on the underground - its almost like they have no choice but to look at my billboard.

Now to look at the billboard design itself (using my skills of semiotics to analyse):

The next step is to plan my billboard design on paper an then create it on the computer probably using photoshop.

The Print Advert

The print ad much still be as punchy and attention-seeking as the billboard, however, as it will be in a magazine i can afford to have more text as people will have more time to read it. The type of magazine also matters too. It has to be featured in a men-aimed magazine, like 'Men's Health' as the men who read this magazine are around the age of my target audience and could be quite interested in the appearance of things. I could also put the advert in 'Maxim' or any other similar mag. As there are no men's magazines in my house, i have had to find photos on the internet, otherwise i would have scanned them:

This advert (above) is the idea that the phone is powerful enough to smash through the page - appealing to men. Its quite a simple concept for an advert as the ripped paper creates a frame around the phone making our eye go straight there. The advert with bees is an interesting advert and i have never seen an advert like this before. A lot of the phone isn't seen, but if i was to put a slogan and logo, it still wouldn't matter. There is a lot going on so as a viewer it would make me want to look closer. 

     



Now i am going to plan what my billboard and ad will look like and then hopefully create them on photoshop. They have to be impacting, colourful, powerful and bold. And most importantly - target men of the selected age group. The next few posts i will do will be me planning and creating the posters.

I have noticed that often in phone and ipod adverts there are hands or people holding the device. This could show that somebody is happy to show this phone to you, holding it out for you to see, you are lucky as a viewer to see it. Its almost as if the person has just grabbed the phone out of their pocket to show it to you. This poster (left) is of a young, modern lad who has his sharp focus of the phone. The phone is straight on giving the audience the chance to see the whole phone. Also often in billboard posters is black or dark backgrounds. This gives the image a strong and powerful look - something which people want in a phone. It is a poster which would be simple to recreate. This vibrant poster (below) is also very common to see. This woman is obviously very happy to have this ipod in her hand. She is a normal looking lady - making her relatable and achievable. The electric colours in her hair could represent that the ipod has created such a positive impact on how she feels.The colour are eye-catching and bright. The poster (far below) is again dark, but this time it gives the audience something to figure out - why is the hand bandaged? It doesn't make sense until you realise that the phone is

 called a Razor... The hand in the air could represent victory, glory to have this phone and that the person holding it would go through cuts and grazes just to get their hands on this phone - its worth fighting for. As the scene is over a city, there is almost a superhero feel about the poster. I have also noticed that throughout research phone advertisements, there isn't much text. Normally only the phone name and a slogan.








My Poster

I first need to think up a catchy slogan which will hint about the phone being solar-powered and cheaper to run. I didn't have much time to think one up so i just went with : "NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE SUN." I am just going to name the phone make 'Solar'.

I now need to plan what my poster i going to look like using the traditional pen and paper. They are quickly jotted out and the colour just indicates what i will photoshop in or whatever. I tried to stick with the concept of the sun powering the phone because that is the main part of the phone i would be trying to sell. Here is a few plans of posters i could make my final:

 - Real fire and sun
- Yellows contrast with black slogan and phone

 Mistakenly upside down!
- Hands around the phone (almost like God's hands)
- Light around the phone also
- Starry/dreamy

- A photo of the solar system
- Black starry space
- Phone as one of the planets

The Diffusion of Innovation Theory

The diffusion of innovation theory is a theory that explains how, why and at what rate new ideas and technologies are spread through cultures.The rate (speed) in which something is spread greatly depends on the country, culture and positions of people who buy into a new idea or technology. It is also referred to as the Multi-Step Flow Theory.

The definition of diffusion is: The process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over a period of time among the members of a social system.

The definition of innovation is: An idea, a practice, or object that is perceived to be new by an individual or other unit of adoption.

(Rogers 1995)


The Hype Cycle

This chart shows the hype from an audience as soon as the product is released. It was created by 'Gartner' in 1995 and was designed to explain what happens when a product or innovation is hyped, and then goes through various stages to acceptance.

Definitions of times:

- Technology Trigger: The breakthrough or launch of a product.
- Peak of Inflated Expectations: A frenzy of publicity, creating enthusiasm for the product and unrealistic expectations.
- Trough of disillusionment: Technologies tend to enter this category because they fail to meet expectations and quickly become unfashionable.
- Slope of Enlightenment: Even though there may be less press talking about it, some audiences may start to understand the benefits of having that technology.
- Plateau of Productivity: This is the category where the technology where the benefits become widely accepted and used.

Adopting Technology

There are different types of people when it comes to the audiences of technology. This refers to how fast they get technology and the reasons why:

The Innovators - They are interested in developing technology further (technologists). The first people to adopt the technology and are also the creators.
Early adopters - Quick to take up the technology. They are visionaries and creators.
Early majority - Pragmatists. They are the critics and the collectors.
Late majority - Waiting for it to be cheaper. Conservatives, the joiners and spectators.
The Laggards - Synical about new technology. Only going to use it when at a disadvantage. Sceptics and inactives.

Influences of Adoption of Technology

Why do certain people adopt technologies some than others?

Necessity because of a job or as they are at a disadvantage compared to the people who have decided to adopt it - they may not be able to contact many people etc. Some people may be more interested in technology than others and some may also be able to afford more. People views may be different on how much to spend and when to buy something. Some people may be more materialistic than other people who use technologies until they break.

How valuable is a social network without enough users?

People are more likely to join a social networking site if many users are on it, if most of their friends are on it. So if not many people are on a social networking site, no big advertisers will want to advertise on it, creating no revenue for the social networking site.

How powerful is social influence such as peer pressure?

Peer pressure causes people to feel like they have to have the latest products in order to feel like they fit in and aren't left behind. This is very powerful, once one or two people from a friendship group get a new technology, the others make feel like they need to conform. Somebody who has a new technology may be seen as more privileged or compared to somebody who hasn't got the new technology,

In conclusion:

I have understood this theory quite well and where i stand on the adopting chart - the late majority - i wait for something to be cheaper or until something breaks therefore i have to replace it. I also buy new technologies for necessity  purposes and to make my life easier. Technologies such as computers so i can do school work, catch up with the latest news and social network, also, my ipod so i can have all of my CDs on one device.

The Technological Determinism Theory

Technological determinism is a reductionist theory which states that technology defines who we are as individuals in society. I effects what we say, do, think, feel and how society develops around us with the development of technology.

Here i print-screened a helpful sheet we got given which includes quotes from important people about technological determinism and their opinions on it. And also it says how it develops us as people:
(Look at the individual interpretations!)

I am very interested in why technology is developed and bought. As a class and individually in todays lesson we thought about this and came with a few points which i have a lot of opinion on! Here are the list of reasons why technology is developed, supplied and bought:

- More influence from outsiders - People want to keep up with the latest trends and must-haves to fit in, to feel involved and to be modern. There is a great deal of peer pressure when it comes to buying things, people may seem reluctant to do something different incase it could seem 'uncool'. Eventhough people may want to have the latest technology that everyone else is having, there is still competition between those peers - to own the MOST technology.
- Technology involved in socialisation - There is a difference between technology being involved in communication and using technology to communicate. Technology which is involved in communicating would be the computer, but the technology being used to communicate would be facebook.
- Affordability - As the years go on, technology has been made more affordable by the rise in availability, nessessity and demand. With the demand for a new technology to be made, it will not be supplied as the main aim is to sell as many as possible. As a technology gets older, it becomes cheaper - therefore the technology is available to more people (everybody) whether it is the latest or not.
- Availability - Throughout the years this nation has dramatically changed from the industrial nation that we once had. Technology is mainly made in the east, which makes it cheaper to make and therefore cheaper to sell. Not only is it cheaper to make it out there, its easier to make large quantaties for a decend manufacturing price. The more availability, the more the world gets taken over by the technologies and we cant escape it!
- Nessesity - Technology is sometimes used because it is needed to be. A fire engine wouldnt be able to get to a fire without tracking and communication devices. Somebodies occupation could be very involved with technology.
- An easy life - Technology was first developed to make our lives easier. Calculators made it quicker and easier for the mathematics-phobe to add up sums, and the coffee machine which meant your coffee was made for you and you be out of the front door for work on time. Laziness or convienience? Both?
- Occupation - If you are a teacher, you would need the computer to register the pupils and to write reports and to prepare for a lesson. Technology can also provide jobs in companies with make the technologies.
- Peer competition - Not only would somebody want to be like their firneds who have the latest technologies, but they may also want to be the person with the MOST technologies out of their friends.
- Globalisation impact - Technology is global. Sometimes even when you might not expect it. The creators of technology have made sure that it is everywhere to grab the most demand and buyers.

Here is a speech from Bill Gates who is the chairman of Microsoft. He talks about the vision and aim of Microsoft and the development of technology the company is planning to do:

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


Audience of the technology

I also want to write about the audience of technology development. There are three main types of audiences:

- The Resister
- The Early Adapter
- The Reus


Lesson task

We were given a lesso task to log the technology we have used or been in cintact with during our whole lives. Its the idea that these technologies define who i am as a person. I was planning to do a powerpoint, however i am not able to get it onto blogger or even onto prezi, so i have had to make it on prezi instead. This presentation shows the technology i have been in contact with as soon as i was born the the exact moment now. I have dated each year - this is not nessesarily the year the technologies came out as i havent got eventhing as soon as they were released - but each year represents when i got or was in contact with a technology. I may have got something one year and still have it, this timeline just shows the first time i got something, and where a technology device is repeated is when i upgraded or got a new one. Keep in mind that i am probably a part of the 'late majority', when it comes to the Diffusion of Innovation Theory. Here is the prezi i created:

My Technological Development on Prezi