Moviestorm

The problem facing most educational institutions is twofold. Firstly, there are practical considerations. Filming equipment is bulky and costly, so live-action filming is not always possible. It also requires suitable physical space, and cannot easily be carried out in a way that involves an entire group of students. Secondly, animation is a slow, complex process, and the current generation of software such as Maya or Blender require a high degree of expertise to master. There is therefore a need for filmmaking tools that are easy to master, that allow for rapid production, which allow all students to be engaged, and which are affordable.

Moviestorm was originally created to enable amateur filmmakers to make animated movies using typical home computers. In the last three years, the developers have been working informally with institutions from all educational sectors throughout the world to determine whether the software fulfils the needs of both film and media teachers as well as its applicability to mainstream education, and to determine whether it has a discernible effect on learning.

Moviestorm has been trialled in three different educational environments in various schools and colleges in the US, UK, Europe Japan, and Australia:

1. in film education to improve specific filmmaking skills
2. in other media courses to expand students’ creative vision
3. in mainstream education as a cross-curricular tool for general teaching and learning

1. Moviestorm for film education

Moviestorm has been utilized in film courses at university and college level, and also in film and media courses in secondary education (high school). These courses have spanned both film appreciation and practical film making.

Students used it in three main contexts, discussed separately below.

Making movies

Moviestorm provided a useful alternative for allowing students to make short movies. Many students at both school and college level reported that they were involved in no more than one film project per semester, typically involving a film of three minutes or less. Only one in six students took a directorial role on each project, and some students completed their course without ever having directed a movie. Furthermore, students were often limited to what they could film with a hand-held camera using local locations and their classmates as cast. In addition, students had no opportunity to benefit from teacher criticism and re-shoot their completed movies to see the effect of any recommended improvements.

Using Moviestorm, students were able to undertake many more film projects, typically making one or two films per month. On each film, they were able to take on all roles, including director, camera, sound and editor, and thus got wider and deeper experience from each project. Students were also able to be more ambitious creatively, and film scenes involving large crowds, different locations, stunts, special effects, and complex camerawork simulating crane or helicopter shots. As an additional benefit, students could easily go back to their completed movie and re-shoot or re-edit scenes to incorporate specific suggestions from teachers and peers.

Previsualization

As a pre-production tool, Moviestorm can help students work faster and more efficiently and get more benefit from their live action or animation projects. Given that production and post-production time is often extremely limited on these project, it is essential to make maximum use of the time available for both shooting and editing. Students filming live action often reported that they were unprepared on set, and that their completed shots did not edit together well. Animation students reported that they had put a lot of effort in at the early stage on things that did not work or which were unnecessary, and therefore they failed to complete their projects on time.

Using Moviestorm to create an animatic instead of (or as well as) a traditional storyboard can allow students to spot a range of problems at an early stage, such as line crossing, awkward edits and jump cuts, or lack of continuity in placement of characters. It also meant that they could determine exactly what props and set dressing would actually be seen. This meant that filming and editing the movie became an exercise in checking off the previously agreed shots and edits, as all the experimentation was done in pre- production, not during valuable production and post-production time. Students reported a time saving of up to 50% in production and a further 25% in post-production. Students using this technique were also more likely to complete their assignments.

Practicing specific techniques

A recent new approach currently being evaluated is to use Moviestorm to allow students to improve their film making skills by focusing on very specific basic film elements and filming them repeatedly in different ways until they develop fluency. These elements can be as simple as filming a conversation or a walk, or may be more advanced, such as the use of silhouettes or how to simulate a large crowd with a small number of extras.

Using Moviestorm to create short clips very quickly in a rough format, students can film the same thing ten or twenty different ways in the course of an evening working solo, without the need for cast, locations, or equipment. This enables them to compare different styles and get immediate feedback on what works well in different contexts. It also allows them to experiment with different approaches at their own pace. One film teacher likened it to a pilot practicing in a simulator rather than using a real aircraft. Others noted that it was the film equivalent of a musician practicing scales and arpeggios, or an artist’s sketch book. This led to the developers starting to refer to Moviestorm as a “film sketching tool” – a way that learners can get down ideas quickly in the form of actual film rather than written notes or hand-drawn images.

To assist learners and teachers, Moviestorm commissioned a series of booklets of exercises, with the first released in September 2011. Initial responses from film teachers and students suggested that this had the potential to change their approach to film making, although no data has yet been compiled.

Results

Both teachers and students reported improvement in student engagement and in the quality of their work.

“It’s animation, but you don’t have to be an animator. It’s about learning to tell stories and learning traditional film techniques. My class includes cinematographers, editors, writers, and video producers. They’re learning about their own role in film production, but they’re also learning to see the bigger picture and understand what everyone else does. There was a lot of skepticism at first when I proposed using Moviestorm to teach film, but the students who are already using it are really happy with it, and now I have more students wanting to get into this class than I can handle. The students didn’t have to be sold on the software very much because they recognized how much they would be able to accomplish without the need for lots of crew, equipment and locations.” (Professor James Martin, Digital Storytelling, University of North Texas.)

“My Level 2 students’ work got moderated yesterday and their Moviestorm projects took all the plaudits. This resulted in helping most of my students get distinctions for their overall coursework. Some of my students are now working their lunch breaks because they’re so inspired!” (Steve Thorne, Creative Media, Long Road Sixth Form College, Cambridge)

“It’s incredibly refreshing to be able to make something spectacular on a very limited budget without having to deal with the day to day hassles of live-action cinematography. If I didn’t like how a shot worked in the editing booth, I could very easily slide into the program and change the camera angles or the screen direction on the fly, whereas if I wanted to do that in a live-action context, I’d be forced to spend quite a lot of money and time on a re-shoot.” (Ed Lie, film student, University of North Texas)

“I like how you can easily try the same thing in lots of different ways to see what works.

If it comes out bad, it doesn’t matter: you’ve only spent a few minutes on it, you haven’t wasted anyone else’s time and you’ve learned something anyway!” (Dan Horne, film student, Full Sail University)

“A really good primer for any film student. The practicality of learning these techniques in Moviestorm, rather than just the theory, gives you an easier way to fix these concepts in your head.” (Andrew Segal, Carshalton College & Norwich University of the Creative Arts.)

Examples

Ed Lie at the University of North Texas used Moviestorm to create a science fiction film as part of a digital storytelling course. He noted that it would not have been too expensive and time- consuming to make the film in live action or traditional animation. He also noted that using Moviestorm allowed him to focus his efforts on the storytelling rather than the technical aspects of production.
http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/student/student_case_study_Ed_Lie
Video: Transmission http://vimeo.com/23826738

Long Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge, UK, used Moviestorm as part of their Level 2 Diploma, Media National Certificate course in their moving image unit and short film project, Students were tasked with creating a 2-3 minute film in Moviestorm. Working with Moviestorm allowed the students to film action sequences safely and cost-effectively, and gave them a wider range of cast and locations. Students liked how easy it was to use Moviestorm. They also liked the large library of ready-made customisable props, sets and backgrounds, and that they could get fairly realistic movies out of it.
http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/teaching_case_study_long_road
Videos: http://cramlevel2.blogspot.com/

FML Film Club was an extra-curricular group set up at Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida. Students make extremely short comedy sketches each month in order to get practice with going through the entire production cycle. Some groups used Moviestorm to previsualize their films. These groups were more likely to complete their films each month, reduced the time taken to complete their film, and were happier with the results.

Wan Smolbag Theatre in Vanuatu used Moviestorm to train students at their Film Club. Some students used it to create content that was broadcast nationally, and others went on to full-time jobs with the national television channel. This demonstrates that Moviestorm can be used in a very wide range of contexts: Vanuatu is one of the poorest countries in the world.
http://www.moviestormblog.com/index.php/moviestorm_- _launching_television_careers_in_surprising_places/
Video: I bin gat wat taem http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hcQ7xbojkw

2. Moviestorm for teaching other media

Although its primary application has been for teaching film, some educators have experimented with using Moviestorm for other creative media, including games, music, art, and writing. In some cases, this has been directly related to the course content; in other cases, using animation allows students to put their work into a different context and see it in a different way.

In games courses, Moviestorm allows students to create video segments and to improve their understanding of visual narrative. This allows them to develop their critical focus on the differences between interactive and linear narratives.

In courses such music and writing, Moviestorm allows students to integrate their work with other media. Instead of creating work in a single isolated medium, they can create a soundtrack to a movie or write a screenplay which then becomes a film. This can act as a spur to creativity as well as giving them new creative options and developing new skills. Furthermore, by acquiring a basic understanding of what is involved in creating a film, they are better able to appreciate how to adapt their chosen medium to work with film.

Results

Teachers were satisfied that using Moviestorm allowed their students to achieve more and broaden their creative scope.

“It was an interesting experience that produced a broad scope of ideas. It’s important for games designers to understand different creative disciplines to help with idea generation. It was a valuable experience in building interactive assets for a professional platform. Moviestorm’s a versatile piece of software and a valuable addition to the game designers tool-kit.” (Philip Jackson, Computer Games Design, University Campus Suffolk)

“It’s a great way of encouraging kids who are new to music to switch on their creativity. A film gives kids a canvas onto which they can ‘paint’ sound and that gives them confidence to write music in a way that they might not have done if they were faced with a blank page.” (John West, Music Technology and Creative Media, Faringdon College, Oxford)

Examples

Philip Jackson at University Campus Suffolk used Moviestorm in his Computer Games Design course as part of the machinima module for first-year students. Students were required to create a short film. This helped them to develop transferable skills they would later use to design cut-scenes, game walkthroughs or to assist them in developing their narrative, storyboarding, scriptwriting and modelling. Advanced students went on to create Moviestorm content packs as a way to develop their 3D modeling and animation skills. http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/teaching_case_study_philip_jackson

John West at Faringdon College, Oxford, initially used Moviestorm in his music classes for ages 11-18. He provided students with film segments which they then used as inspiration for original compositions, or for which they were required to compose a score. After using Moviesrtorm successfully in this way, he has now begun involving his film students by getting them to create the videos which the music students then score. He has also extended it to other non-media classes he teaches (see below). http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/teaching_case_study_john_west
Video: soundscape http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/education_lesson_plans/soundscapes

3. Moviestorm in mainstream education

A key area that the developers were interested in was whether Moviestorm would have a valid application in areas of education not directly related to media of any form. Moviestorm was adopted in a range of schools starting with children as young as nine. In some cases, students used Moviestorm directly in the classroom or for homework assignments; in other cases, teachers used Moviestorm to create video-based teaching resources.

The primary objective was to help learners to become more media literate. With the growth in video as form of communication, the teachers recognized the need for students to be able to understand and analyze video in the same way that they understand written communication. By encouraging students to present work in a video-based format, they develop a deep understanding of the medium. Video creation also becomes a useful life skill that can be applied in many different ways in both professional and personal contexts.

In addition, teachers wanted to find out whether the use of video in the classroom would help student engagement, both by making learning more fun, and by increasing retention of information.

Moviestorm was used in many different courses, including PSHE (Personal, social, health, and economic education, a required part of the UK curriculum covering a range of topics including citizenship, drug awareness, and sex education), folklore and mythology, languages, mathematics, history, geography and computing. It was also used for working with autistic and other disadvantaged children to give them an alternative to written work. Finally, some schools used Moviestorm to create school announcements, involving both pupils and teachers in the production process as an extra-curricular project.

As with the other groups of students discussed above, Moviestorm provided an attractive alternative to existing video or animation tools. Its simplicity and rapid production meant that all students could benefit and were able to create finished work, even at a very young age.

Results

Teachers and students at all ages and courses reported increased engagement. Students were more enthused about projects, and would spend longer on Moviestorm-based assignments because they enjoyed them. In some cases, teachers reported that this resulted in higher quality work and improved grades.

“The best thing about Moviestorm is that the children want to use it to learn about other subjects such as history and geography. It makes them want to learn and be creative.” (Alison Leaver, teacher, Spaldwick Primary School)

“Moviestorm just makes learning more interesting and fun – it makes us want to be creative! We have recently been studying a lot of history and it would be really good if we could create history movies and present them to the class.” (Emma, 10, Spaldwick Primary School)

“Moviestorm is an exciting alternative to existing animation software that is currently available. Its intuitive interface, richly textured environments and characters plus its fully functional directorial suite makes it an impressive tool for planning, directing and editing animated movies. My students are already discovering new ways to utilise Moviestorm for class assigments, choosing this over other presentation styles. Who wouldn’t want a fully made animated movie to communicate your understanding on a given subject? The tutorial support provided is a neat addition to an already impressive package.” (Steven Caldwell, MLC School, NSW, Australia)

“The students have loved the videos and there is a lot of laughter. The Moviestorm videos make a welcome change from the standard textbooks and CDs. I have found that the students are motivated not only by the movie lessons themselves but how the animations are made.” (Paul Carr, Sakuragaoka Junior and Senior High School, Japan)

“After creating the movie, the [autistic] student was “tickled pink” with the results and it gave him the chance to show his work with pride despite having a problem with presentation.” (Mark Fulcher, McGee Middle School, Tucson, Arizona)

“I created a video where a character was presenting the topic (drugs awareness) in front of relevant images and played that to the classroom. I could just as easily have done that in real life but somehow being on film meant that the content engaged the kids completely in a way that a simple classroom presentation couldn’t have done. A handy practical side effect is that it fixes the amount of time that the presentation will take – knowing that the video will use exactly 10 minutes means that I can plan the rest of the lesson more accurately. There are also really clear applications in areas such as languages and science that we’re keen to explore as a school.” (John West, Faringdon College, Oxford)

Examples

Paul Carr at Sakuragaoka Junior and Senior High School, Japan, used Moviestorm to teach English to students aged 11-18. He created videos to use as teaching materials. Students used these to increase oral comprehension and to stimulate conversation exercises. Some students created their own videos in English in the form of both narration and drama. http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/teaching_case_study_paul_carr

Mark Fulcher in Mcgee Middle School, Tucson, Arizona, assisted an autistic student in his wife’s class to present a class report on the history of rock’n’roll. The student felt unable to deliver the report in person or on video. Mark recorded the student’s report, and then helped him to create a video presenting this as an animated character. The student received an A+ grade.
http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/teaching_case_studies

Alison Leaver at Spaldwick Primary School used Moviestorm to help young children develop a range of computer skills. The pupils responded by suggesting a range of ways in which both students and teachers could use video in school, which demonstrated how comfortable they were with video-based education and assignments, and how quickly they adapted to the software.
http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/teaching_case_study_Spaldwick_Primary.html

Larkspur Middle School in Virginia used Moviestorm to create school announcements that were broadcast on screens throughout the school. These provided an entertaining alternative to text-based slides. Both students and teachers were involved in production, which helped to promote direct relations between school administrators and pupils. http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/education_lesson_plans/school-announcements

John West at Faringdon College, Oxford, uses Moviestorm to present sensitive topics such as drugs, alcohol, bullying and sexual awareness. He found that using video made it easier to address students, and they were more comfortable watching a video than listening to a teacher.
http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/teaching_case_study_john_west
Video: Natural Family Planning http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvOPaW0bYXM

Conclusions

Moviestorm can be demonstrated to have a beneficial effect in a wide variety of educational contexts. While the most obvious application is in film teaching, it is also relevant for both other media tuition and non-media subjects. The use of this technology gives students new skills, improves their media literacy, and stimulates them to put more effort into both solo homework assignments and collaborative classwork.

Further references

Free learning guides and e-books

Making Better Movies With Moviestorm series:

Vol 1: Camerawork http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/ Making%20better%20movies%20with%20Moviestorm%20-%20Vol%201%20-% 20Basic%20Camerawork.pdf

Vol 2: Staging http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/ Making%20better%20movies%20with%20Moviestorm%20-%20Vol%202%20-% 20Staging.pdf

Vol 3: Lighting and Sound http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/ Making%20better%20movies%20with%20Moviestorm%20-%20Vol%203%20-% 20Sound%20and%20lighting.pdf

Moviestorm guide to previsualization http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/ Moviestorm%20guide%20to%20previsualisation.pdf

Using Moviestorm to create storyboards http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/ Using%20Moviestorm%20to%20create%20storyboards.pdf

Collaborative movie-making with Moviestorm – A guide for schools http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/ Making%20Movies%20with%20Moviestorm%20-%20A%20guide%20for%20schools.pdf

Using Animation in Schools – A practical handbook for teachers http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/ Using%20Animation%20in%20Schools%20-%20A%20practical%20handbook%20for%2 0teachers.pdf

Case studies

Film-based courses http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/student/student_case_studies.html

Other courses http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/teaching_case_studies

Downloadable lesson plans, teaching resources and lesson ideas

Index & full listing http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/education_lesson_plans

Storyboarding 1 http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/MoviestormLessonPlan_Storyboarding_Lesson1.zip

Storyboarding 2 http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/MoviestormLessonPlan_Storyboarding_Lesson2.zip

Narrative and Script http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/MoviestormLessonPlan_Narrative_And_Script.zip

Camerawork 1: shots http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/MoviestormLessonPlan_Camerawork_Shots.zip

Camerawork 2: static v moving cameras http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/MoviestormLessonPlan_Camerawork_StaticVsMoving.zip

Articles

SecEd: using Moviestorm in the classroom (June 2011) http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/Animating%20the%20Classroom_John%20West_Sec%20Ed.pdf

About Moviestorm

Moviestorm software is available for both Windows and Mac computers. Educational discounts are available, and a special edition, Moviestorm Schools, is available for younger students. See http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/ for further details.

Matt Kelland is the founder of Moviestorm Limited, an innovative, rapid and simple animation tool that will change the way people approach filmmaking, from amateurs to professionals, educators and businesses. His goal is to to make Moviestorm as popular as Word or Photoshop.

Joseph Olin, Executive Director, International Digital Media and Arts Association

“The iDMAa is an important organization for the academic community that shapes the digital media art community by providing a forum for educators to exchange ideas and recognize their contributions and achievements which enrich anyone using a computer or connected handheld device today,” commented Olin. “By taking on my new role with the organization, our goal is to increase the awareness of the organization amongst stakeholders and membership.”

“iDMAa is about to mark its 10^th anniversary in 2012 and Joseph Olin has just the right set of talents and experience to lead the association into its second decade,”  said Ray Steele, who is becoming the Senior Executive Director Emeritus of the association he founded in 2002.  “It is a perfect opportunity for us to have Joseph involved in iDMAa’s future direction and we are convinced that he can help us take a major step forward for our members and for the broad field of digital media and arts.”

Joseph Olin brings more than 25 years of experience in video games and consumer products to the iDMAa. He currently also serves as COO for Credible Research Corporation driving the development of a new genre of online social games. Olin was President of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Science where, he was the voice of the Academy and directed the annual D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit, the Interactive Achievements Awards^® and the Into the Pixel™ video game art exhibit. In January 2011, Olin joined the faculty of the University of Southern California as an adjunct professor in the School of Cinematic Art teaching game design. He continues to consult with a number of technology and entertainment companies on strategy and product development.

As a precursor to the Academy, Olin spearheaded the introduction of gaming’s most famous heroine, Lara Croft, with the launch of the blockbuster Tomb Raider franchise as vice president of marketing and business development for EIDOS Interactive.

Previously he also served as senior partner and group account director at Ogilvy & Mather responsible for the Barbie, Mattel Electronics, Disney toys and plush products campaigns.  Earlier in his career, Olin held senior level positions in game publishing, advertising, sales, and marketing. At Elliot Portwood Studios, Olin co-created Leonardo’s Multimedia Toolbox, an educational product, developed with Gene Portwood and Lauren Elliott (creators of Carmen Sandiego). His background also includes tenure at NEC’s System Labs of Japan, Della Femina McNamee, and Microprose/Hasbro Interactive.

Olin sits on the advisory boards of FMX, AnimFX NZ, International Federation of Multimedia Associations (FIAM), China Joy Game Summit, and the UCLA/CRESST Research Center.

The best birthday gift I have ever gave myself, my Garmin Forerunner 305s makes my exercise darn near fun. Using GPS it tracks my location so it can give distance, pace, even elevation differences when I climb my neighborhood Himalayas. A wireless monitor across my chest signals to the Garmin my respiration and heart rate. With sensors attached to my bike (recently rechristened “Scarlett” after I finally finished “Gone with the Wind”), I can tell how fast, far, and furiously I crank those pedals. And cool on top of cool, when I get back, I cradle my Garmin and it uploads all the data to a Garmin server that will chart my runs on a Bing map—I can even playback my runs and watch my speed and heart rate as I zoom across the map. The world can see my workout and I can compare mine to others. But this morning my Garmin isn’t cooperating. Maybe clouds. Maybe battery. Maybe it is just as unhappy at being uncradled before the crack of dawn as I am. It can’t locate the satellites it needs for GPS and it locks up. “Locating satellites” and it just keeps telling me. Well, then, I am just not going.

The Garmin has gamified my workout. With all that tracking, plotting, and charting, I am getting all kinds of feedback on my performance. But if I am not going to get “points,” why play? Is the feedback as important as the workout—or, since I am stonewalling until the Garmin complies, maybe more. Am I unwittingly teaming up with organizations who want my data? Standing there in the dark waiting for the satellites to zoom into range, I am wondering if my desire for data is creating a true win/win scenario.

Data depositers. We promulgate bits and bytes all the time everywhere. Keep up with it sometime. We scan our Kroger card. Swipe our credit cards at the pump. Bookmark our favorite articles on Delicious. Search on Google. Create playlists on Spotify. Build wish lists on Amazon. Chart our runs with Garmin and Nike plus. And don’t even get me started on what we do on Facebook. But contrary to critic’s contentions, most of us aren’t indiscriminate with our data. Sure each data deposit potentially enriches a company or organization. But it also pays us data dividends—in convenience, savings, entertainment, or just the ability to meet new friends (ok, really impress our existing ones). Sure, bad things can happen when the wrong people make nefarious use of our data. Yeah, I was hacked off when Apple hacked my iPhone locations, but mainly because they weren’t telling me—or cutting me in on the potential pay-off from scraping my whereabouts. More theft of value than violation of privacy. When we deposit data, I think we make a subconscious risk calculation. If the ROD (Return on Data) outweighs the possibility of risk by over 10 to 1, we hand over the data and enjoy the benefits.

And now a new trend is likely to make use of our data even more widespread and potentially enriching. Big Data is the term being applied to “datasets that are beyond the ability of typical software tools to capture, store, manage and analyze” (“Big Data” report from the McKinsey Global Institute). Big Data used to be unwieldy and isolated. Big Data was a big problem because each company had its own data silos and tried to vertically monetize its value for only itself. But new tools and techniques are emerging that will make these huge datasets more manageable. Datasets that were monolithic can now be shared. And that is going to mean big changes. Especially for the industry that used to be called “advertising.”

What if Garmin created data partnerships with other companies sharing (with my permission) my workout data? Now Kroger can tell me how deep into my workout I have to go before I burn off those excess calories in Little Debbie Nutty Bars (delicious!). When I buy my next set of shoes, my local running store could suggest ones with reflective strips since I am running on the road before sun-up. And my bike store could notify me when I might need to think about buying new tires because of the extreme mileage I have been logging. Does it even count as advertising anymore when I am not getting interrupted by info I don’t want or need? Or by sharing this info, are companies demonstrating that they really get me? And, most importantly, can Big Data help me lose my big gut?

Next semester I am even teaching a graduate seminar on the implications of Big Data.

Scott Shamp is the Director of the New Media Institute in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. The New Media Institute is an interdisciplinary unit created to explore the creative, critical, and commercial implications of new digital communication technology. Shamp currently serves on the Board of the International Digital Media and Arts Association. He has been a member of iDMAa since its founding in 2003.

Maybe it has something to do with the smell of a new magazine, that unique combination of glossy paper and ink.

Maybe it has something to do with my upbringing. I first subscribed to a magazine when I was in 6th grade. It was 1980, and my class received an election info packet from U.S. News & World Report. It had bios about the main candidates (Reagan, Carter, and independent John Anderson) and information about the electoral process.

It also included a subscription card that I took home and asked my parents to send in. I continued subscribing to U.S. News & World Report for several years. I was a little Alex P. Keating in the making. (I’m still a little sad about the end of the U.S. News monthly magazine)

Even today, I subscribe to a number of magazines, from Wired to Entertainment Weekly, from Southern Living to Parenting School Years. My mother used to give my wife a subscription to Woman’s Day every year, and I think I was the only one in the house who actually read it.

But I think my love affair with magazines boils down to a love of what’s inside each magazine. I love the conciseness and variety of the articles. I like that I can finish an article in an evening. I love books too, but I have never been one of those people who can finish a book in an evening, or even a few evenings.

I like being able to walk away from a magazine article with a little tidbit or an image or a statistic that I didn’t know before.

The magazine industry also helped fuel my addiction. After I started teaching full-time, I started receiving offers for free magazine subscriptions!

Magazines like DV, Studio Monthly (formerly AV Video and Multimedia Producer), Digital Content Producer (formerly Video Systems), EventDV (formerly EMedia magazine) came to my office every month for free, all I had to do is share some information.

I loved taking my newly read magazines down to the computer lab and leaving them in the racks for my students to read. I required some classes to read related articles and write short summaries to encourage them to engage the ongoing discussion in their field.

But then something began to change. Most of these magazines started getting thinner. Then some of them moved to a pay-only model. Others stopped printing monthly magazines and went completely online.

This seems to be a growing trend in the magazine industry. In 2009, 64 magazines went online only, and in 2010 26 more made the digital jump.

A funny thing happened, however; something just didn’t translate. I didn’t go to the websites of these magazines that I read religiously each month. It doesn’t make sense. The articles are the same. They often had more images and links to the things they were talking about. And it’s not like I’m a technophobe. I could easily visit these sites on my MacBook Pro, or my iPad, or my iPhone.

I really can’t say why I don’t visit those sites. I can’t say why I resent assigning my students a list of URLs to visit instead of walking over to a rack of magazines. I guess I just prefer the magazine form.

But I’m afraid that I am the exception not the rule when it comes to magazines. The fact is that more and more magazines are closing their doors permanently.

"The End of an Era," the last issue of Layers Magazine, Jan-Feb 2011

According to MediaFinder, 428 magazines stopped publishing in 2009, 525 magazines ceased printing in 2008, and 591 shut down in 2007. And these are not just obscure, niche magazines that no one has heard of. Magazines like Gourmet, Modern Bride, Teen, Nickelodeon and National Geographic Adventure have all ceased printing in recent years, along with U.S. News & World Report that stopped printing its monthly magazine in December 2010.

Many magazines that have survived are doing so by virtually giving away their product. Some are severely discounting their subscription rates to keep their numbers up, so they can maintain their advertising rates to stay afloat. I recently re-subscribed to Southern Living for less than $5 for the entire year. Recently, I received an offer to subscribe to a magazine for 3 years (36 issues) for only $12. That’s 33 cents per issue!

Just like music, movies and books, the future of magazines is digital, but digital magazines need to work out a few kinks in the system. Instead of spending millions of dollars on a “Power of Print” ad campaign, the magazine industry should take that money to lower the cost of digital copies of their magazines.

I believe the future of magazines is on devices like the iPad, and I’m not alone. When the iPad was first released, many were predicting that the device would radically change the future of magazines.

But the honeymoon was short-lived. In the last days of 2010, dozens of articles focused on the drop in iPad magazine sales. One of the key statistics was that when Wired magazine’s iPad version debuted in June, it was downloaded more than 100,000 times. No one mentioned that the first Wired iPad edition was free!

But the reality is that Wired’s iPad sales did drop from an average of 31,000 downloads between July and September, to around 22,000 downloads in November.

This in no way surprised me. I am a Wired reader and an iPad owner, and I haven’t purchase a single iPad copy of the magazine. Why would I pay $3.99 for the iPad version of a magazine that I could get the print edition for $1 per issue?

Wired took a step in the right direction this week, making its iPad versions available to its subscribers at no additional charge. I truly hope that other magazines follow suit quickly. For the magazine industry to not only survive but also thrive in a digital economy, they need to address a few key issues:

First, digital magazines cannot cost more than their print counterparts. No matter how much industry insiders argue that digital copies cost just as much, because of server space, copy protection and legal services, the average consumer does not believe it. The eBook market has shown us that digital editions that cost less than the print editions do sell and do make money. The pricing issue is paramount to the continued success of the magazine industry.

Second, digital magazines need more outlets than the iPad. This one is tricky for me personally as an Apple person. I began working on a Mac in 1989, and I have never looked back. I also love my iPad. But if digital magazines are going to thrive, they need choice and they need competition. I know there are several companies hoping to dethrone the iPad as the tablet of choice, but someone needs to at least become a strong second if the magazine industry is going to make it through this transition.

Third, the magazine industry needs to figure out how to make money on their digital editions. This has been the elusive component for every traditional medium from music to movies to newspapers to books. For magazines, advertising is the key. How can they leverage advertising in the digital realm in a way that is valuable to advertisers? Right now it seems that most magazines are just transferring their print ads over to their digital editions, and Google is dominating the online advertising scene.

Some may disagree with my prescription for the magazine industry, and others may see a new, more interactive form replacing the traditional magazine. No one really knows what the future will bring. The big question is what to do next. I could just sit around and bemoan the fact that many of my favorite magazines are gone, but for now, I’m going to enjoy downloading the last year’s worth of Wired on my iPad and hope for the best.

Chris Blair is an Associate Professor of Communication Arts and the Coordinator of Digital Media Studies at Union University, an undergraduate interdisciplinary program bringing together faculty and courses from the departments of Art, Communication Arts and Computer Science. Since 2003, Blair has served on the Board of Directors of the International Digital Media and Arts Association, where he currently serves as chair of the board of directors.

Last week, I thought of T-Bone again when I met Tim Beynart.  Tim is a Senior Experience Architect for NBC Universal.  Hey, NBC Universal is a big deal.  More than just the peacock, it is a host of over 30 different networks including The Golf Channel, SyFy, A&E, Hulu, and Style.  OK, it is a big dang deal.  Through a virtual introduction, I learned that Tim headed up a group that built and manages the video player used on all NBC Universal sites.  I definitely wanted to talk to him — and find a way to get him to talk to NMI students.  So I suggested a phone call.  Tim recommended coffee instead — in downtown Athens.  Come to find out that Tim works for a huge New York firm with headquarters in 30 Rock, but he lives in Athens.  Through conference calls, shared screen technology, and email, he manages a team of 10 all over the world.  I asked him why he lives in Athens.  Two reasons — both of them boys.  “I didn’t want to raise kids in New York.” With technology Tim says he can do everything his job requires while living in Athens and only visiting the Big Apple four times a year.

I used to reject what we once called “distance learning.”  I had seen too many horrendous examples of technology that technically worked, but really didn’t help people learn.  Disembodied videoconference heads droning lectures that were the perfect cure for insomnia, not effective learning. Chaotic chats where jumbles of answers and questions tumble together out in nonsensible narrative.  Plus I found the ubiquitous claim that we could all take AND teach class in our pajamas ludicrous.  How dare they make assumptions about my sleeping apparel?

But Tim and T-Bone have me thinking. I am behind the times.  The term “Distance Learning” and the old approaches have mutated.  It was always more about managing time rather than spanning distance, anyway.  New models have emerged recently which suggest there are productive ways to integrate technology and physical presence.  Hybrid learning joins group learners in real time and facilitates interaction when participants are free.  Low residency programs bring learners to campus for extended stretches at critical points in the semester, but provides technologized resources to help them learn on their own when they are back home.  UGA is looking at these new ways of teaching.  These new approaches offer the potential to reach larger audiences with affordable alternatives to traditional in-classroom learning.  But we are approaching these with a critical eye.  Before UGA implements any new systems, we have to be sure that we are not sacrificing the supreme goal of effective learning.

Tim showed me that we can use our technology to accomplish important tasks across space and time zones.  But T-Bone had a valuable lesson to offer as well.  Computers are now where we “do what we need to do.”  Maybe computers are where we need to teach as well.

PS.  I still look like a goober in the red shirt, but I am smoking in my beret.

Scott Shamp is the Director of the New Media Institute in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. The New Media Institute is an interdisciplinary unit created to explore the creative, critical, and commercial implications of new digital communication technology. Shamp currently serves on the Board of the International Digital Media and Arts Association. He has been a member of iDMAa since its founding in 2003.

To help in these challenging times, Organic Motion, a leading provider of educational motion capture systems, and the International Digital & Media Arts Association (iDMAa), are sponsoring a free Web Seminar to help you win extra budget by securing grants from untapped sources that share your educational goals.

You’re Invited:

Webinar: Expanding technology offerings in today’s climate: How to apply for grants and funding to maximize results.

Date: May 5th, 4pm EST

REGISTER NOW!

The featured guest is Mr. Don Peek, the well-known educator and successful grant writer who has helped raise millions of dollars via hundreds of grants during his transformation of an educational publisher. Don, now the CEO of The School Funding Center (www.schoolfundingcenter.info ), describes his in-depth and successful strategies that have enabled hundreds of institutions to identify, apply for, and secure grant money from major and lesser-known foundations for a wide range of educational goals.

Don will show you the “7 Steps to Successful Grant Writing”, and let you know why “Spring Is the Perfect Time to Write a Grant”. He is a nationally recognized leader in the field of educational grants and provides one of the largest databases of current grant information to schools nationwide.

In addition, Jonathan Rand, President of Organic Motion, will share case studies of universities that have used grant funding to incorporate new technologies into their curriculum. He will describe how this led to an increase in job skills training in high-demand digital media fields, and other focused programs.

This Webinar is taking place at 4pm EST on Thursday, May 5th, from the comfort of your desk, using only your computer.

REGISTER NOW!

If you have any questions, contact:

Cecilia Panozzo
Organic Motion in partnership with iDMAa
cecilia@organicmotion.comcecilia@organicmotion.com
212-776-6100 ext 120

Every year I go to the iDMAa conference to network with digital media professors and professionals across the nation and the world.

Not only do I benefit from my interactions with programs that are a few steps ahead of mine, but I try to help new programs and new professors to benefit from my experiences of coordinating a digital media studies program for the past decade.

Every year I return to my university with a laundry list of ideas and resources to investigate and integrate into my classes.

This year in Vancouver was no different. Below I have organized my notes from the 2010 iDMAa conference at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design. You may already be familiar with some of these, but odds are you will also find something new and different to check out:

Books:

How Images Think by Ron Burnett. Ron Burnett is currently the President of Emily Carr, and he gave an excellent talk at the beginning of the conference. It inspired me to order his most recent book, a fresh look at how we engage with new media.
Total Engagement: Using Games and Virtual Worlds to Change the Way People Work and Businesses Compete by Byron Reeves and J. Leighton Read

Participatory Journalism: Guarding Open Gates at Online Newspapers, an edited volume coming out in April from Wiley-Blackwell, featuring a chapter by Alfred Hermida, who spoke at the conference

The Open Brand: When Push Comes to Pull in a Web-Made World by Kelly Mooney and Nita Rollins

Websites:

SoKap, a crowd-funding site similar to Kickstarter.
SynthiaHearsPictures.com. Translates images into music. Created by R.Blank of Almer|Blank who spoke at the conference.

Euphoria, an animation engine for gaming that uses math to animate.

gpscomics.com. Just what it sounds like by Ozge Samanci

Check out the Radio lab podcasts from http://www.radiolab.org/

Visualizing.org is a great resource for professors and students to create interesting and interactive visualizations using data sets provided by the site.

Six word memoirs by Smith magazine. Takes Twitter minimalism to new levels. Also check out Six Words on the Digital Life.

Urbansignals.net, an iPhone app that is “taking love back to the streets.” Foursquare meets Match.com?

NYTimes.com tracking twitter traffic in the 2010 election

Alfred Hermida: reportr.net

the-burger-king.tumblr.com, social media example, though it seems primarily one directional.

Check out Trendsmap, realtime local twitter trends

Software & Plug-ins:

RGB Music Lab: freeware by Ken Jikojima (mentioned by R.Blank)
Free downloadable plug-in for game development: Unity

Edit flow, WordPress plugin that expands/improves the editing process of posts in the dashboard.

Desktop curtain, Mac app that hides your desktop during presentation (via Glenn Platt)

Videos to Check Out:

Vimeo visualization of 2010 MTV music awards
Old Spice guy responding to Tweets via YouTube

YouTube: A hunter shoots a bear, interactive video example, like the subserviant chicken.

Centel: World’s first cellphone commercial (shown by Amielle Tagga)

YouTube video: MOCOM 2020 The Future of Mobile Media and Communication

Thoughts/Notes:

JFK inaugural: “we shall always hope to find them” repeated over and over becomes melodic (via R.Blank)
Sometimes the interactivity should be pretty light, you end up taking bells & whistles out. Focus on the narrative. (via Shoebridge & Simons)

Nonlinear films are still presented in a linear way. It is nonlinear for the filmmaker, but linear for the audience

Check out Aristotelian v. Brecht views on drama (via Jeff Nyhoff)

In video games, what about the concept of the spec-actor

Newspaper extinction deadline – print to disappear the US in 2017, UK in 2019 and Canada in 2020. Sound plausible?

@hermida talk on iTunes U.

Hermida presentation via SlideShare.

Tagga Media has a mobile media tool, how much does it cost?

Universal Orlando announced the Harry Potter park by telling 7 people, the quickly reached hundreds of millions? Is this true?

OH in between sessions: Person #1: “I coordinate an interdisciplinary digital media studies.” Person #2: “Oh, God, I hope you’re tenured!”

Twitter accounts to follow:

@ferris_bueller
@hermida
@awsamuel

Chris Blair is an Associate Professor of Communication Arts and the Coordinator of Digital Media Studies at Union University, an undergraduate interdisciplinary program bringing together faculty and courses from the departments of Art, Communication Arts and Computer Science. Since 2003, Blair has served on the Board of Directors of the International Digital Media and Arts Association, where he currently serves as chair of the board of directors.

The association recognized Amy Christen, vice president of Corporate Affairs at Cisco Systems with the Pioneering Achievement Award for her contributions to digital education through the Cisco Networking Academy.Kimberly Cooper, co-founder of Prologue Films, was awarded the Career Achievement Award for her creative leadership in the field of film, branding and visual effects.

KwangYun Wohn, Dean of the Graduate School of Culture Technology at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), was recognized for his leadership in digital media education with the iDMAa Outstanding Leadership Award. Ron Burnett, author of How Images Think and president of the Emily Carr University of Art and Design was also recognized with the iDMAa Outstanding Leadership Award.

James Oliverio, Director of the Digital Worlds Institute at the University of Florida and iDMAa board member, was awarded the Distinguished Performance Award for his scoring of “Swing Symphony (Symphony No. 3),” composed by Grammy Award-winning musician Wynton Marsalis. The symphony premiered in June 2010 in Berlin with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and premiered in the United States at the Lincoln Center in New York City in September.

Jeff Rutenbeck, dean of the Communication and Creative Media division at Champlain College, was awarded the Distinguished Service Award. Rutenbeck served as the founding president of iDMAa in 2004, and has served as the chair of the board of directors of the association for the past five years. He was the founding director of Digital Media Studies at the University of Denver before moving to Champlain in 2008.

“What is it?” were his first words in the Psychology of Perception course I took my junior year at UGA.

“A triangle” the five students who weren’t afraid to talk on the first day of class said in unison.

“Nope.  I drew lines.  You drew the triangle.”  He was right.  They were just three disconnected lines.  We organized the random visual data into something we could make sense of.  A shape.  A triangle.  His point was that we humans are organizing machines constantly piecing together our reality from scraps of stimuli.  He had a word for it.  Gestalt — pronounced “geshtalt” because nothing makes you sound more intelligent than an authentic Teutonic enunciation.  Bottom line, the whole is always more than just the sum of the parts. Reality is never additive.

My social media immersion has me thinking about gestalt.  A couple of months ago, I plunged head first into Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, whatever.  I’ve known the social media “facts.”  Now I am trying to understand it — think of it as an unorthodox participant observation study in 140 characters of less.  I’ve learned a lot.  With Tweetdeck running in the background and the alien-esque update alert creating an eerie soundtrack, I am working differently.  My attention wanders.  My contemplation is more meandering and less directed. Links to academic articles, updates from my students, news stories, pictures from friends all wash over me.  It’s tempting to say I am distracted — that assessment is too simple and burdened with negative connotations.  My thoughts and even ideas seem less solitary — more connected.  And not just to other ideas, but connected to people — some I know intimately and others are little more than amorphous concept clouds sharing resources and perspective.  The diversion isn’t disruption. My computer work now has a network of collaborators — some of whom I know of and others I just imagine are working along with me.  My work is and feels more, well, social.

Many are lamenting the death of “deep reading.”  We seem to be losing the ability to hone in on a singular idea to the exclusion of everything else.  Those of us raised to believe that a nose in a book was the ideal of productive concentration are all too quick to judge the new ways that young people accommodate information.  Generation graze — the ones who read in blips, blurbs, blogs, posts, and tweets — seem like the end of literacy and the annihilation of learned culture. And new media is blamed for the attention deficient pandemic.

But does focus come at the expense of awareness?  Does single-mindedness strip down our experience?  I worry about the artificiality of the tunnel vision that accompanies our academic absorption.  I don’t concentrate on a sunset at the beach but it changes me.  Focus isn’t a part of my morning dog walks but they refresh me.

Maybe the generation graze has mastered gestalt.  Rather than assembling parts in lockstep, they could be tying together threads from all over the place to make new types of message tapestries.  Maybe the new ways of thinking that emerge from their information styles will be more like weaving than building. I think I like the colors more anyway.

Scott Shamp is the Director of the New Media Institute in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. The New Media Institute is an interdisciplinary unit created to explore the creative, critical, and commercial implications of new digital communication technology. Shamp currently serves on the Board of the International Digital Media and Arts Association. He has been a member of iDMAa since its founding in 2003.

A couple of years in, I noticed something.  Other faculty knew their students.  What music they were listening to, the TV shows they were watching, the movies they liked.  Those teachers were actually incorporating that info into their classes.  They said the students really opened up when they could see themselves in the material.  So I tried asking my students about themselves.  You know, getting them to share.  But they weren’t having it.  They were just doing the class thing.  I finally asked one of my colleagues how she got her students to tell her about themselves.  “I told them about me,” was her answer.  Wow!

So now I tell my classes about me — one of my favorite topics anyway.  What I am reading.  What I am listening to.  What movies I like and hate.  My favorite TV shows.  And it works.  They tell me about themselves.  And the classes have changed.  We have expanded the examples we discuss. The topics are more salient and relevant.  And although this will sound like heresy, we even have fun in class.  So much for academic rigor!

Although I was wrong about a bunch of things, I was right about one thing.  Knowing about me did change the way they interacted with me.  But instead of undermining my authority, it enriched our understanding of each other.  Putting me and them squarely in the class makes the whole experience less about college and more about us. It has become a customized and shared experience.  My classes change every day based on what we do, what we want to do, and what we like.

So I have been putting together my first lectures for the semester. Yeah, that syllabus day where I just talk about what we are going to do before we actually start doing it — so I can scare off the lazy students.  I have been updating my “About Me” slide.  What I am reading (“Lords of the Sea: The Epic Story of the Athenian Navy” — I’m a classical junkie), my favorite music from the summer (Allison Weiss — “Fingers Crossed” — she is an NMI alum), what summer movie sucked (“Inception”  being confusing does not make something smart), and how I know that Ali really wanted Frank, not Roberto (of course, if “Dancing with the Stars” is on hiatus, I resort to watching “The Bachelorette” — doesn’t everyone?).

Photograph by Andrew Davis Tucker

All this self-disclosure has me thinking about the charged discussion about privacy that has been swirling around social media.  Frankly, a lot of the negative reactions are off target.  Mainly because they come from people standing on the shore not the ones swimming in the social media sea.

Yes, the internet and new social media tools (Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, YouTube, whatever) provide unparalleled opportunities to provide information about ourselves.  And, yes, these new media outlets are working to use this information to customize the messages they present to us.  And of course, that means datamining social media will lead to [insert GASP] customized advertising .  But help me out here.  How is that so bad?  Suppose I tell Facebook I hate Snickers (way too many peanuts) but love Life Savers.  Then suppose the the “New York Times” mines that info from Facebook and decides to stop showing me that darn “Hungry? Grab a Snickers!” on my iPad and instead inserts ads for butterscotch LiveSavers (my favorite!).  Doesn’t that actually improve my reading experience?  In short, knowing information about me that I voluntarily provide and can control (and, yes, I know that is a sticking point I won’t address right now) can enhance our media experiences.

Much has been made of young people’s new views on self-revelation.  For us geezers, it is hard to believe that kids want to share so much.  There is a stubborn and widespread misconception that this sharing proclivity is uninformed and naive.   But research has shown that young people are pretty savvy about how they use and control information they provide.  A report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project called “Reputation Management and Social Media” (Madden and Smith, 2010) found that most young people actively manipulate the privacy settings in social media — 71 percent of the 18–29–year–olds surveyed reported changing their privacy settings. And another study (“Facebook privacy settings: Who cares?”, boyd & Hargittari, 2010) found that “far from being nonchalant and unconcerned about privacy matters, the majority of young adult users of Facebook are engaged with managing their privacy settings.”

So if they do care about privacy, why do they share?  Because there is a pay-off for them. Bottom line, young people perceive a benefit from sharing info about themselves.  Just like my classes changed for the better, they are putting themselves back into the media mix.  And it is working to ensure their media experiences respond to them.

Media that respond to us is the future.  And you heard that from a PROFESSOR.  Impressed?

Scott Shamp is the Director of the New Media Institute in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. The New Media Institute is an interdisciplinary unit created to explore the creative, critical, and commercial implications of new digital communication technology. Shamp currently serves on the Board of the International Digital Media and Arts Association. He has been a member of iDMAa since its founding in 2003.