DMA New and Traditional Media Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m176IQbtaJE&feature=context-cha

Originally my goal was to create a new media from a spontaneous flash mob mixed with visual art and music. However, my plans slightly changed for my video as the final product is a dance party. As originally planned, the dance party video still includes spontaneous fun mixed with different lighting, visual effects and music. The dancing happened in a casual dorm room setting with fun music and familiar popular tunes in order to create excitement.

My new media that I used was Camtasia. I have never heard of or worked with this program before so it was challenging as I had to watch many tutorials. However, the process was very rewarding because I was able to play with and add many effects to create a video that I initially envisioned. In Camtasia I was able to change the color of the video’s background to purple and green which I think adds an exciting dimension to the video. I was also able to change the lightness and darkness of the colors while also zooming and panning in different ways to add to the excitement of the spontaneous dancing. With Camtasia I was able to follow the new media’s principle of Automation where I could take media elements such as images, sounds, shapes, or behaviors to manipulate the video and automate the operations involved in media creation.

In this project, I was challenged with decisions of filming the dance party such as: whether I should be in the video or be the camera-man, which angle of filming is best for optimum viewing, room and mood lighting, and lastly which songs should be played for spontaneous fun. In the end, I chose to be in the film and dance so I had another person film. However afterwards, watching the video I realized that if I had control of the video camera I could have added another dimension to the dance party by zooming in and out or moving around the room to shoot from different angles. For the lighting in the room, I chose to turn off the overhead light and leave a lamp light on. I was pleased with this decision when transforming the video in Camtasia because the lamp light added an extra brightness and effect to the film. Furthermore, I chose familiar upbeat songs that my friends and I enjoy listening to and know the lyrics of in order to have a good time dancing with each other. Overall, I had a good experience working on this project as it represents the combination of new and traditional media. I am pleased how the visual effects and music blend together to compliment the dancers’ dancing. Whether my video produces aesthetically pleasing results is in the eye of the beholder, although I hope that my viewers enjoy watching.