07/06/07 – Social Networks

Social Networks Online Research 

This piece of research intends to delve into the beginnings of social networks and social networks online. As I have covered an adequate amount of primary research into this project which has formulated a clear idea of what I am about to produce I felt it necessary to better comprehend social networks online and to put them into context with any surrounding and controversial debates that exist. I will first of all research into social networks generically before carrying out another piece of research specifically on MySpace, the platform I intend to use as my host for the social experiment of bringing Chalkhill to life online.  An essay entitled “History of Communications” quite rightly suggests that in an age of technology which is readily changing each day to make our lives more convenient many of us have forgotten the processes and development that these technologies have gone from and arguably come from to reach us today. Communication between people, whether through speech, body language, the clothes you wear, the place you may be or your actions brings people closer together. Once a person knows a person on friendly terms I think it is safe to say they are then friends. When people introduce themselves to each other and realise that the same people you know, your friends know as well you begin to see an invisible web emerge and it is this which we call a network. Hypothetically a network can be as small as three people but I’d argue that less then three people is merely a conversation between two people where has three people have the ability to open three separate channels which will grow exponentially the more people you add to the network.  Before the age of travel social networks were more then likely very small and consisted of your family and those who lived near and around you and who you worked with. When people started travelling I’d assume their social networks were able to grow but it probably wasn’t until the dawn of a primitive form of postal network where communication could reach further and wider then the local area that social networks really started to build up. It was believed that the Chinese had the first form of public postal system as far back as 1111BC (some three thousand years ago) as stated in the online Encyclopaedia Britannica. As populations grew however and so did transport links, it was inevitable that people needed more consumables and products, would have to work in larger scale businesses and therefore would meet more people so networks would grow larger again.

In more recent years it has been the telephone and satellite network which has initially conquered time and space to bring humanity closer together, but without doubt the largest, most influential and accessible communication and networking device of all time thus far has to be the Internet and the World Wide Web along with its applications. In some earlier research which I carried out on this course, I discovered how the Internet was formed. It began by a simple networking of computer systems across America to form a defence and communication network. Soon enough the potential of this online networking was seen and it wasn’t until computers and technology became cheaper and more accessible to the public in the late 1980’s/early 1990’s that the home computer was developed and the desktop soon with the Internet was available to the everyday man and woman. The World Wide Web was the interface that was developed to make the internet more use friendly. Once this was established and the home computer became popular many business, companies, entrepreneurs and visionaries began to have ideas (if you’re interested in reading my own theoretical research one the Internet, it’s uses and a networked society, fundamental topics of this course, please contact me on mrandrewdavid@hotmail.com as once again this is indicative reading of my current knowledge and understanding). Bulletin boards were the first simple forms of communication on the web but this soon developed into emails, chat rooms and then the social networking websites.  A wiki based site (wiki meaning others may contribute or edit the page/s) on the history of social networks places Classmates as the earliest form of social networking based site. It is a US based site initially based on when you left school. It has since grown to include jobs and even the military. You can create a profile and then share through various media your own life. These started to become popular and it wasn’t until the 21^st century that sites began emerging and becoming ever more popular such as Friendster (2002), MySpace (2002), Facebook (2004) and Multiply (2004). Most of these sites were initiall developed with a smaller social network in mind but many grew into much larger scale networks.The web definition of a ‘social network’ has been summed up as;”

The personal or professional set of relationships between individuals. Social networks represent both a collection of ties between people and the strength of those ties. Often used as a measure of social “connectedness”, recognizing social networks assists in determining how information moves throughout groups, and how trust can be established and fostered.”                                                                                                                Parliament Glossary  

This being retrieved from a Parliamentary document puts a very interesting spin on both the idea of connectedness through similar interests and trust. It can often be found in an online world of so much potential that much time, effort and space is wasted or neglected and this goes as much for social networks as it does for anything else. For example some companies will set up a profile page on MySpace which will attract huge amounts of fans because they’re interested in the same ‘product’ and as a result this profile may have excess of a million friends. That doesn’t mean that the person or product actually has that many friends and if the company decides to neglect the website, and doesn’t upload any new information the site becomes little more then a bulletin board for those who have already joined to leave comments or for further people to join. Maybe one benefit is that people will be linked to other people who like something similar to them but let’s take a quick look at the definition of a ‘friend’;”A person whom you know well and whom you like a lot, but who is usually not a member of your family, someone who is not an enemy and whom you can trust”
                                                             Dictionary.co.uk

It is arguable that when it comes to artists, television shows and even some so called friends on many peoples profiles are not that well known, there is no level of trust that has been built but it simply boils down to someone or something you like a lot. MySpace also markets itself as “a place for friends” (see image on homepage) which could be greatly argued in the context of the entire network and what the network actually stands for (which I am beginning to discover is a huge advertising board for not only yourself but for your products, services and people worldwide).

The article publish in Wikipedia has a very succinct idea of what a social network is which includes links between ‘values, visions, ideas, financial exchange, kinship, dislike, conflict, trade, and sexual relations’. People are connected to others for many reasons and this has happened since the dawn of time. In another article on Wikipedia specifically looking at the social ‘web’ it defines these social networks as being a platform for ‘expressing and developing identity (especially for youth), relationships, trust and is user driven and generated’. I have to agree that particularly in youth, the web and these social networking sites are a place to define and mould either an actual or an online personae and it is for this reason initially that it would be very useful for my project as we can further develop television based characters using these applications. We can then not only build stronger more personal relationships through various profiles of different characters (and more interestingly links between different shows) but also build a more personal relationship between the characters, producers and the audience they serve which I believe is a key element in this project.  Interestingly Wikipedia (which in itself is a user generated application) lists in an article of social networking websites some 101 social networking applications the world over. What’s interesting to note here is that there are social networks which cater for specific interests such as cars, books, and even Christian Churches.  They also have a current list of membership which ranges from as little as 3,500 (Anima a private group for the Chechen community) to the gigantic 180 million of MySpace (these statistics can be verified at the respective sites and will no doubt have become much larger upon reading this). Social networks are also categorised as open, private, invite only, for over 18 and even for the USA only (and online website for Physicians in the USA called Sermo). Another website has a weblog entitled “Home of the social Networking services meta list” which contains more then a hundred different networking sites and categorises them.    Without any doubt the social online network is an interactive and creative platform which is here to stay. It is something which was initially developed to bring back in contact old school friends but has turned into a platform to establish our own online identities which mirror our lives through pictures, blogs, videos and our own interests. We without doubt enjoy our lives much more when we share and with the aid of the Internet we now have the ability to share this with millions.  

04/06/07 – Project Proposal and Schedule

Introduction During my initial time at University while studying for my first degree in Video Production, I met a man who was producing what he claimed to be the world’s first online soap opera, Chalkhill Lives¹. The following summer I took up work experience with him, which assisted my growth as a filmmaker and gave me greater understanding of not only drama but also the potential of the Internet as a broadcasting platform. When I began my Masters in RTMC I realised how much potential Chalkhill² had as a subject for my major project and as a  foundation of my research to explore the processes and capabilities of the World Wide Web and then to intervene in a way where I felt I would be contributing to knowledge.  A primary idea was to stay on the lines of video production and to endeavour to produce my own soap, or at least a single episode (a pilot) in a similar format; however I was required to do something a little more interactive. Although through viewing platforms such as YouTube³ the audience would not only be able to view but also interact through leaving comments, this would probably only happen once and therefore there would be little depth or contribution to this notion. So thinking more about the audience, I wanted to assist Chalkhills performance by getting the passive audience more involved. Those who have shown interest to be in the show are now attending the acting workshops (under the training section of the website), but those who are not sure or just enjoy the show should also have the option to be more interactive from their homes wherever they may be watching.
For a while I wasn’t sure how this could be achieved. But without realising, right under my nose was an online application which had huge potential which was yet to be tapped. I was therefore not only looking at a sufficient project but also a gap in the market and thus any knowledge on this new area would therefore be a contribution in the academic sense. I recognised that if certain characters from Chalkhill could live beyond the television set, and could hypothetically interact with the audience, this would not only potentially raise viewing figures by being something new, dynamic and exciting, but would have many other benefits such as audience contribution through comments, viewing of exclusive material through blogs, vlogs and photos which could be shared and therefore the characters themselves would not only expand but would  be real in the online reality setting. Social networking was the way forward, no fan clubs or generic websites, but an actual personalised page that probably any one who can send an email could create for themselves. MySpace (www.myspace.com) would be the platform to take this idea forward. MySpace would not only make the profiles accessible to the masses but with an online database of more then 200 million⁴ it would act as an advert in its own right. Through this project I would still like to take an element from my initial, idea and that is to produce a video for upload to the Internet. Instead of it being a soap however I will focus on one of my strengths, that of documentary. The documentary will create part of my research into Chalkhill, as will the process of uploading it. It will also function as an understanding for the audience of how Chalkhill actually functions.
The main focus of this project however, is to extend the boundary of Chalkhill, by creating a live online presence and then to get the audience interacting and feeding back. The outcome of this project is not necessarily to improve the ratings of Chalkhill but to experiment on how this using a social network may work and to make recommendations to others of how they may best use the idea.  The following stages outline not only the steps to be taken to reach my goal but also the deliverables.   Stage one: Background This project has been in development since the start of the RTMC course and as a result subsequent modules have assisted in its progress. In the Definition and Development Unit (which can be found online through my blog at http://wordpress.com/dster) I extensively looked over many different kinds of websites and discovered that although some television shows were using a similar idea, none had fully expanded to the potential of what could actually be done. My research started primarily at the birth of the moving image online, televisions cross over, movies use of the web, current TV, the download culture, creative commons, Big Brother, QVC, and many other examples of how the web was utilising the moving image. It was the E4 show ‘Skins’ (http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/S/skins/) however which really set the idea of social networks and how they are underused which gave me the initial idea for how I or anyone else could fully exploit this online tool to our advantages. The aforementioned blog is essential reading for the background on this project and the initial developments for this idea and also contains all references and links to examples.  The blog also contains another earlier Unit which RTMC offered entitled “Professional Practice Forum”. The piece of work I am referring to is called “This is MySpace: Extending the boundaries of reality and audience interaction” and was posted on 7^th May 2007. This Unit further developed my idea and took it into a more professional business persuasion of how it may benefit television soap more then a drama or a sitcom as soaps are continuous and on every week. This assisted in the development of the Management for the project and so I once again urge you to read this brief document so you have a well rounded understanding of the process which has lead me thus far as so I do not repeat myself too much.  With the stage set and a clear idea of what the focus and aims of my project now are I can begin to elaborate on what I am about to do through my Major Project Resolution Unit;

 Stage two: Initial Research of Chalkhill: Documentary Having done enough research to begin the project, the next stage of my research was then to actually uncover what Chalkhill was all about, how it works, why it has chosen the Internet as a platform and I figure there was no better way to do this then to use my initial skill as a video producer and produce a short documentary on the system of things. This would not only reinforce to me what I already knew about Chalkhill but would hopefully help others to understand more what Chalkhill is all about.  I could then also use this film as an example of broadcasting on the Internet by uploading it and seeing not only what kind of reaction I get but also the kind of audience figures I would receive. This would be in similar effort to the process Chalkhill follows to upload an episode but for a different style of film. Once I had understood and carried out some research on Chalklhill I could then focus on the MySpace pages themselves, but first a little more research would be in order.    Stage three: Developmental Research and Experimental Practice Dossier  My primary research, which leads me onto this path, extensively looked at the use of video on the World Wide Web. What I was yet to research was the use of social platforms themselves. In this stage of my project I therefore would need to research deeper into social online networks, their history and development, social and political context and any debates surrounding them. I was already aware of the ethical implications of my project before I had started which will be discussed later in this project, but more importantly is how others have reacted to the issues I have identified. This research will initially look at social networks generically and then focus more particularly on MySpace.  In this stage of research I will also delve deeper into some of the reseach I touched on in the initial stages, case studying some of the programmes which had used MySpace as an advertising tool, how they had utilised it, my criticisms of the way they have used it and finally any other debates around the individual programmes uses of the platform. Finally in this stag I will refer to my initial ongoing blog which looks at developments of the moving image on the Web as well as other examples of my idea which have not yet been covered to give this project a more rounded conclusion once I reach the end.   Stage four: MySpace Pages This stage will almost be purely practical. Initial meetings will have to take place to decide one how many characters will be profiled and to engage with them to ensure that their profiles come across as realistic. The Management of these pages in this give instance will need to be discussed further as the examples given in the aforementioned Unit ‘Professional Practice Forum’ are not only for a larger corporate business but also for one with a budget and a team of people which I do not have in my arsenal.I will then methodically take you through a step by step guide of how to create a page as I have done to take it to a place where it can be primarily published. At this stage I will once again need to return to the Producer of Chalkhill to discover m limitations of what I can create as material to place on each character page as not to get ‘out of character’ or to break or leak any plot lines which were about to be released in the soap opera itself.

Once a sufficient amount of material has been uploaded including blobs, photos, videos and themes for each profile the plan would then be to leave the profiles to breathe initially for about a week before any promotion is started to see if anything happens. The next stage would be to promote the profiles via email to friends, family and all those who have shown interest in Chalkhill via the Producers database of contacts. The profiles will be carefully watched and interaction will take place where the online audience have asked to join as a friend to the characters pages, or have left messages or comments. This will all be documented. A final effort may be to produce a very brief advert for YouTube advertising this project to the rest of the world to then see what happens. My assumptions are that if Chalkhill has a good fan base already this will spread pretty quickly. As the soap is initially and online soap it would mean that its audience already have access to and are probably capable of using the Internet.  As the audience start to interact (by simply joining to the pages will be enough) I will then begin to produce and upload more exclusive material. This will occur over about a four week period.Stage five: Recommendation In this stage I shall in my own experience make a recommendation to other soaps and TV shows who may be thinking of doing the same thing. Here I shall look at the pros and cons that I have experienced, the strengths and weaknesses and just outline very briefly what I would do to make this work for a bigger production more successfully if I was to do the project again. This will also act as the first step of my evaluation.  Stage six: Knowledge Base The knowledge base will then encapsulate the project in an easy to view online dossier. I hopefully will be able to incorporate the knowledge base into a MySpace profile thus not only fully exploiting the means of media sharing over the web, but to also keep my entire project inline with it’s aim. This profile can then be linked to the earlier profiles to give greater depth explanation and results to the project as a whole. The knowledge base will have its own unique aesthetic and be a step by step walk through in summary of this project from initial concept to final resolution.   Conclusion: Written Report In conclusion to the entire project  I shall write a report to evaluate not only the project but my own experience and growth and what I feel I have achieved through this project and my hopes for where I may take it in the future. The report thus will contain elements from all of the above and will also be published online on both my blog and through the Knowledge Base.

Andrew DavidJune 2007   Footnotes
1.  The main Chalkhill website is now www.chalkhillsoapopera.com for all the latest information and access to online episodes. 2. Chalkhill Lives recently re-branded itself to be known only as Chalkhill which is how I will refer to it from here in. 3.  YouTube (www.youtube.com) is probably by far the most common public video sharing server on the Internet, however since it’s creation many other video platforms have been created by other giants such as Google (http://video.google.co.uk/) Microsoft (http://video.msn.com/v/us/v.htm) and Yahoo (http://video.yahoo.com/).   4. At the time of reprinting this document on 15^th September 2007 the total networking possibility had risen to over 200 million participants on MySpace.   

Project Schedule

June 4th, Monday  - write a clear plan of action (this may change but it gives you focus) - begin keeping a small journal of development and write in this continually throughout project. - research into social networks. - add to blog.

June 11th, Monday- research into MySpace.- case study three examples of programmes using similar idea to projects. - add to blog.- brainstorm documentary and write a pitch/treatment.

June 18th, Monday- create a beat sheet for documentary – ideal structure – write interview questions around this. - gain access to past archive video footage and start capturing. - work out any additional footage you will require (workshops/day on set), book equipment for next week. - create a filming schedule, release forms, call sheets etc. for paperwork. - add to blog.

June 25th, Monday- film initial interview of producer this week and workshop)- extend equipment booking.- capture footage and continue reviewing archive footage. Begin transcribing interview and aim to complete. - add to blog.

July 2nd, Monday- film day on shoot and any further cutaways. - capture footage and continue reviewing archive footage. - add to blog.

July 9th, Monday- begin edit. - add to blog.

July 16th, Monday- continue edit and aim to complete by the end of this week.- seek any music you require through the Creative Commons. - begin researching into broadcasting platforms for documentary. - add to blog.

July 23rd, Monday- export documentary and upload to internet. - create a short advertisement edit for documentary and upload to YouTube.

July 30th, Monday-          overlap week, use this week to either catch up or get ahead depending on where you are in the project at this stage. -

August 6th, Monday- initial discussions and research for MySpace profiles, choose characters, discuss character styles, personalities and attributes etc.- gather initial imagery.- create basic profiles for chosen characters and one for Chalkhill as a production, also change your own personal profile into a Methodworks Profile. - create an email promotional template for profiles.

August 13th, Monday- out line the process of how to set up. - email promotional advert to friends and all Chalkhill contacts. - create YouTube advert? - document any developments in profiles.

August 20th, Monday- upload exclusive material for the week.- publish YouTube advert also.- document any developments.

August 27th, Monday- begin knowledge base – summarise early stages of project and research. - upload further exclusive material and respond to any threads.- document any developments.

September 3rd, Monday- upload further exclusive material and respond to any threads. - document any developments on profile.

September 10th, Monday- summarise findings from experiment, upload any remaining material, reply to any threads and discuss with Producer whether to keep profiles up and running or to remove them. - write recommendation. - write report. - complete knowledge base.

September 17th Monday- review all work for errors and add any meta-dialogue and evaluations where possible. - create a site map for knowledge base ready for presentation. [Wednesday 19th September @ 10:30am in Eldon R.1.123]

Please note this is an initial plan for the schedule and does not include all elements of the project, and the schedule may well change as the project develops.

07/05/07 – This is MySpace: Extending the boundaires of reality and audience interaction

The following is my proposal for the second part of my major project and it’s final resolution before a written evaluation and reccomendation of the process;

Executive Summary
The 21^st Century is without doubt an age of technological innovation, progression and intervention. Ideas which were once mere dreams fifty years ago are not only becoming a reality today, but far exceed the potentials first imagined, none less so then the Internet and the World Wide Web. This interactive and engaging platform has changed the way we look at communications, marketing, knowledge sharing, and broadcasting to name but a few fields. Even though great leaps have been made, there are still huge gaps and pockets for improvement and growth. At this stage in time, with broadband being readily available to most homes at a low cost, broadcasters have been looking at the possibilities of a cross platform production, even producing specifically for the Internet¹. Several television shows have branched out onto social networks such as MySpace as a platform to create social groups interested in their shows. None however have unlocked the true potential within these existing social networks to their full capacity.                                
Using MySpace as an example, the initial concept for this proposal is to take an existing television show² from a company and develop the program and its audience online. Specific characters (those who are likely to use the web) would have a MySpace account created for them. Primarily this would include such information as their statistics, interests, and photo’s of them, but would develop to include alternative and complimentary plot strands through written and video blogs and a space for the fans to leave their own comments about how they feel the character should act or react upon certain situations in the show. The program respectively would have a production page account on MySpace, where the audience could directly interact with the Producers and also comment on other aspects of the show as well as having privileged access to exclusive material. Thus this initially extends the boundary of reality by creating an interactive and almost ‘as live’ space for the characters to exist out of the television show, and also forms a podium from which the audience can engage and contribute to the creation of the program. Hence the audience feels they’re apart of these characters lives, and the producers of the show get direct feedback from the audience engaging with the character and not to the creator. The prospective result is to increase the audience of the program, to attract more funding for its development, and to build an audience who are less passive and far more involved with the show. Star Trek³ started as a television show, and gained cult status with conventions and franchises all across the world. Imagine the possibility if they could have delved even deeper into the show……….

Relevant Background Information

Recent research has shown how big television has become. It is estimated that 98% of households in the USA (Montgomery County Public School) and 25.3 million households in the UK (Which.com) owned at least one television, and of this more then three quarters, 77.2%, had some form of digital access in 2006. These figures have no doubt increased. Television is a major form of home entertainment due to its low cost, easy access, and diversity and range of content. Taking soap operas in the UK as an example, on Christmas day of 2006, Eastenders on BBC1 attracted more then 10 million viewers, while more recently Coronation Street on ITV1, due to a recent plot strand, has managed almost 12 million viewers (2^nd week of April – digitalspy.com)⁴. 

Interestingly at the turn of the 21^st century, the Government reported (statistics.gov.uk) that the average time spent watching television, DVD’s or videos was somewhere in the region of 2 hours a day in the UK. In comparison a study carried out by Google, as reported by the Guardian March 2006 (technology.guardian.co.uk), stated that Britons spent more time on the Internet then watching the television with users in London spending more then three hours a day surfing the web. The article also states that the Internet boomed much faster then television and now more then 1 billion people world wide are connected. All of these figures alone show how hungry we as a population are to be entertained, informed and educated through different mediums, but also how we seek control and greater choice in our viewing options⁵.  Online social networking sites have only been around for little over ten years, and are one of the main reasons why people are regularly online. However communication platforms such as emails, bulletin boards, forums and other types of communication have been around a lot longer. It was the onset of the home computer revolution⁶ (early to late 90’s), where owning a desktop computer became a necessity to the everyday man, that such social networking sites began to appear. One of the earliest centered around schools entitled classmates.com. In 1996 some Harvard Graduates launched PlanetAll which was more of a social address book but had ‘friend’ features. It wasn’t until the advent of the 21^st Century that such sites as Where Are You Now, Friends Reunited, Hi5, Facebook, Friendster and MySpace were launched. Each site was focused on networking you and your buddies together ensuring a way of not only communicating but also sharing your own interests and effectively your life online for the world to view. It was MySpace (launched in 2003) however which really caught on with youth culture and beyond, as it sold itself as your piece of the Internet, your place to express yourself and show others what you were about. At the point of writing, MySpace had 175,030,590 people, bands, companies, fictional characters and so forth signed up to it. If little over a billion people are connected to the Internet, this figure would suggest that more then a tenth of Internet users are on MySpace.  With the onset of free video sharing from the likes of YouTube, Google Video and Yahoo Video, it’s also no surprise audiences are shifting to the Internet. But where are the potential gaps and how has it all developed?  Big Brother⁷ (2000-present) was a big step in audience interaction and online usage. It initially offered the viewer the chance to be one of the stars of the show who would be watched 24 hours a day. Then via the Internet you could watch almost live (15 second delay with censorship where necessary) streaming of the house 24 hours a day. Nothing like this over such a long period of time had been done before and it changed the way broadcasters were thinking. This idea has now become a universal one with the Big Brother format springing up in most major countries. Over the years Big Brother has developed further by creating spin off shows such as Big Brothers Little Brother and Big Brothers Big Mouth, which encourage the audience to interact and voice their opinion about what is going on in the house. This was the first major step of moving from being a passive audience to an interactive one, which was nothing like a game or chat show. The additional programs complemented and followed the actions of the house for a number of weeks.
The MySpace link was brought to light when a TV show entitled Skins, on Channel 4 in the UK, was aired in early 2007. The show was a short series about youth culture, focusing on a small group of young individuals. The offered link to MySpace produced a homepage for Skins as a program, which was very well created, and aesthetically pleasing. This page included exclusive content and the ability for viewers and fans to leave comments in the ‘comment’ box. Its main purpose was an online advert for Skins at a time when youth culture and the Internet blended in⁸. Alternatively the top friends were the characters of the show, which meant they each had pages as well, not for the actors but for the characters. This was a rather unique notion.

 Following the link to the character pages, it appeared that each character had designed their own page suitable to their own interests and styles. They had put up their own pictures and written a little about themselves. This however seems as far as the promotional teams were willing to go, and although there is space for the audience and fans to leave comments for them, the boundary of reality hasn’t really been breached. In fact what makes it even less realistic is the promotion video for Skins on each character page which would suggest that this was simply a marketing tool and why the homepage may have some 50,000 friends, but the leading character has only 6,000 friends. As the character pages have been neglected to update over the homepage it also doesn’t attract people to become friends with the fictional characters for any more reason then to see and meet other people with similar opinions as they have, found in the comment boxes. Where the light had been cast, there must have been other examples or variations of the idea. The Simpson’s, a cult American animated sitcom had a page, and again its main use is advertising, but in difference it has forum topics for its audience to look into and comment on. This page currently has more then 95,000 friends. Not surprisingly, many of the hit US dramas which are reaching the shores of the UK have MySpace pages⁹ such as Prison Break (54,000 friends), 24 (138,000 friends), Family Guy (875,000 friends), and American Dad (18,000 friends). The UK however seems to have failed to catch the bug on MySpace at least, as none of the major programs have adopted a page although fans have created their own (Coronation Street Fans as an example). All the US show pages do seem to lack the interaction and contribution from the audience that this proposal is suggesting as well as the meta-level of creating a space for the characters to exist outside of the show they came from (more then just interests and a few pictures). Any character pages found were generally of the same format to the show page, may contain forum areas but were little more then online advertising space. 
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Prom Queen TV has developed the notion slightly further. In itself it is a production created for the Internet and comes in daily bite sized chunks of about 90 seconds. This brevity works well for those with short attention spans or people who are always on the go. It has its own homepage and is sponsored by a forthcoming movie that is due to hit the cinemas in July of this year. What’s fascinating about this is that all the characters have a MySpace page, but the characters then actually blog and video blog (only very briefly) stuff that is going on in their lives in the show, and in one instance Michele is asking for her friends opinion (the audience) to choose which bikini she should wear to a party, and people have actually commented. This is the ice breaker, however the show itself is only broadcasted over the Internet and subscribers get the show sent to their inboxes, it’s not as big a show as any of the dramas, sitcoms or soaps that exist. What this shows MySpace pages lack is plot development or alternative plot strands, and as it has been running for several weeks now there is very little development on the pages¹⁰.  Returning full circle, Project MyWorld¹¹ is a reality show created for the small screen (DirectTV) and marketed through MySpace. It follows three girls (all who have MySpace pages) who travel to Europe looking to meet their MySpace friends, looking for love, and looking for adventure. Not only has this taken the concept of MySpace to television, but uses MySpace to then blog and post pictures of what they have been up to as well as screen the different episodes of their antics. Their page acts as both a personal and production page which crosses the two initially discussed scenarios together (and as it’s a reality show, this is a relevant way to approaching this). They are currently advertising through the site to get a new member of the public to join the cast and to travel to the next destination to do the same thing again. Project MyWorld currently has more then 12,000 friends.  All of the given examples shown on television are successful shows. Figures indicate an idea of how big the audience, or a cult following these shows attract. The MySpace friends numbers may only be a fraction of fans who have joined up, but given there was something more on the page, especially exclusive content or complimentary content that is required to be watched in order to understand what is happening on the television show, wouldn’t more people be encouraged to join? 

MySpace therefore works on several levels.
-          It acts as an advertisement for the shows, but not like a pop up or banner, a fan would have to be searching for it to find it.
-          It allows for people with similar interests to join in as friends on the page interact with each other.
-          In some instances you get a little more character development through the interests section.
-          It allows comments to be made about the show, characters and other thoughts the audience may have.
-          Forums have been set up on some MySpace accounts allowing more developed discussions to take place.
-          Limited exclusive material has been posted on some sites, through blobs, vlogs, videos and pictures. There is massive potential here to take on board all of these different experiments and to develop it into something which works on both television and web based interfaces simultaneously, especially since there is very little competition at this stage, so to innovate now would be perfect timing. Where the show would stand alone on the television, the web allows for interaction to take place and this should be taken advantage of in its full capacity¹² to increase interest, to increase the fan base and to extend the boundaries of reality.

Proposal Building upon the existing ideas I propose that a television program is chosen, one which is either brand new or in its infancy. Due to the new premise of having to travel between TV and Internet to get the full content of the show, an existing audience of a long running program may not accept such an idea until the notion has become more common. Characters should then be carefully chosen to initially reflect those who would actually use the Internet and sign up to such social networks. Otherwise you would to be bombarded by every characters additional stories and information, but a selection would allow the audience to concentrate on maybe their favorite characters or a specific plot strand. Pages would then be created in due time before the next season of the show arrives, and each page will reflect the individuals style and interests.  
To fill the market gap; as previously mentioned most existing examples stop at the above. The proposed idea is to now develop an online existence for each chosen character;
-          personal pictures rather then stock photos will comprise their albums.
-          blogs will contribute to their thoughts in the program and also include additional plot strands which may contribute to existing plots or act as subplots and stand respectively.
-          video blogs will also act as mini episodes.
-          the homepage MySpace site for the show will then have links to these characters and exclusive episodes of the show.
-          the imperative difference will be that these sites are regularly updated and edited to not only suite the needs of characters and relate to what is going on in their lives, but to ensure the audience returns time and time again to see the pages and to gain additional information.
-          to some extent replies could be made to certain suggestions by the character (although once in full capacity it may be too difficult to maintain).
-          friends (fans) who join both styles of pages may then contribute by suggesting how the character should react or how the show should develop.
-          even more exclusive would be ‘what if….’episodes which would be uploaded during holiday seasons such as Christmas, Easter, Summer or after a really gritty or dramatic plotline or cliffhanger, in lines with the suggestions made by the fans, to not only show would could have happened to but also show appreciation to the fans ideas.  

This of course would require a team of dedicated web enthusiasts and other roles who work closely alongside the production of the television show. A separate team to writers would branch off to provide the additional storylines and content for blogs etc. Actors would be requested to do extra photo shoots and film shoots also to assist in the production of this content. The aim is to create a synergistic effect between the television and the Internet which encourages the audience to interact and become part of the show, as the show becomes a greater part of their lives. In essence, with the right marketing before everything would be launched, you would also be targeting not only all those who don’t currently use social networks or the Internet even, but also a fresh market entirely who may have never seen the show or had such an experience. What this would be creating is a very different experience of interactive multimedia.  

Given that Chalkhill Lives, (as mentioned in the notes during the introduction to this proposal) is used as either a case study for this or as a live example, with the show preparing to move into it’s third season in July it would be essential to begin immediately, setting up the initial parameters and getting the new teams in place who would be responsible for maintaining and providing content for such an initiative. Primary character pages with some historical content of the past seasons should be ready before the show is launched, along with outlines for subplots and cross over between the two mediums. The results will be measured by the number of people viewing the page, number of people adding the individual pages as ‘friends’ and the amount of comments left. Along with viewing figures for the show, if ten percent of the audience were interacting with the web based content we would be on the right tracks. We would then need to build upon this to not only sustain the existing audience on the cross platform, but to also encourage more to join in.  

In the early stages of success other shows may feed into the idea to boost their audience ratings and to also include the interactive element. One of the benefits of this initiative is its universal and global appeal, and the fact that it’s transferable to a wide variety of shows with consistent and fictional characters. What may occur from this is an alternative for other non-fiction shows to follow a similar pattern that at this stage cannot be seen. Ultimately in fiction, it may come to the point where characters from one show could hypothetically be interacting with characters from another show in the virtual online world, and this major possibility creates a whole host of new ideas. There is room for growth and as MySpace also develops, so will these pages.  The attraction of such a new concept would also deliver sponsorship through advertising on not only the television but the Internet as well as viewing numbers increase due to the interactive aspect, the contribution feature to the show and the impression that by moving the boundary of reality for these characters, they will become even closer to the audience, and more accessible. 
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Conclusion Funding will be required to set up the addition teams necessary for such a project. With regards to Chalkhill Lives, given it was a profit making organization, the following additional staff may be required;- up to four additional script writers- an additional director, cameraman, sound operator, lighting, photographer and post production role- two web designers who could easily update the sites regularly- project manager Regular meetings would then need to be set up between the existing writers, cast and crew to follow the similar format of the actual show, and whoever has total creative control would oversee the project above a project manager. Additional equipment will be required as well as an adequate office space to convey both the additional material and to edit and upload the produced material.  With the developments of the Internet and television and the eventual crossover to broadband productions for many new programs I am very confident that this proposal has enough scope and longevity to produce a revolution to bridge the gap between the current passive audience and the shows they are watching.
References 24 on MySpace; http://www.myspace.com/24
American Dad on MySpace; http://www.myspace.com/americandad
Barb; http://www.barb.co.uk/viewingsummary/weekreports.cfm?report=multichannel
Big Brother; http://www.channel4.com/bigbrother/index.jsp
Chalkhill Lives; www.chalkhill-lives.co.uk
Classmates; http://www.classmates.com
Coronation Street Fansite; www.myspace.com/coronationstreetfansite
Digital Spy Coronation Street stats; http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/broadcasting/a44828/corrie-court-drama-pulls-in-118-million.html
Digital Spy Eastenders stats; http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/broadcasting/a27678/eastenders-tops-christmas-day-ratings.html
Do you Myspace?: New York Times; http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/28/fashion/sundaystyles/28MYSPACE.html?ex=1178251200&en=3f94eabc52553373&ei=5070
Facebook; http://www.facebook.com/
Family Guy on MySpace; http://www.myspace.com/familyguy
Friends Reunited; http://www.friendsreunited.co.uk/friendsreunited.asp?WCI=FRMain&show=Y&page=UK&randomiser=7
Friendster; http://www.friendster.com/
Guardian; http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1726018,00.html
Google Video; http://video.google.co.uk/
Government Statistics; http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D6020.xls
Hi5; http://www.hi5.com/
MySpace; www.myspace.com
Prison Break on MySpace; http://www.myspace.com/prisonbreak
Project MyWorld; http://www.myspace.com/projectmyworld
Prom Queen Character Page; http://www.myspace.com/michelebelle89
Prom Queen Home Page; http://www.promqueen.tv/
Prom Queen on MySpace; http://www.myspace.com/promqueentv
Skins; http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/S/skins/index.html
Skins homepage on MySpace; http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=135579552
Star Trek Audience viewing figures; http://www.treknation.com/articles/ratings_history.shtml
Starfleet Internation on Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STARFLEET_International
The Simpsons on MySpace; http://www.myspace.com/thesimpsons
TV stats; www.mcps.k12.md.us/schools/viersmilles/greenl/stats.html
Where Are You Now?; http://www.wayn.com/waynsplash.html?wci=login&
Which.com; http://www.which.com/reports_and_campaigns/audio_visual/reports/television/Digital_TV_2007_report_news_article_557_110918.jsp
Yahoo featured video; http://video.search.yahoo.com/
Youth Internet Usage Statistics, University of Kentucky; http://ces.ca.uky.edu/extension_regions/Technology_Resources/Yth_Internet_Stats_Use.pdf
Youtube; http://www.youtube.com

Please note all footnotes may be found on original documenta, if interested in reading them pleas

07/05/07 – Informitv

Informitv is a website I have been following for some time now. I had used it in my initial blog findings during my ideas stage for my Masters final project for my (please refer to introduction page). Since then Informitv has been a priceless tool to keep me informed of all that has been going on in the web based broadcasting front and I would urge anyone with a keen interest in this field to subscribe.

In a recent article entitled “British broadcasters embrace broadband video services” it has been reported that the BBC and ITV have now joined the Broadband revolution with the only issue being digital rights however it has been agreed that restrictions and limitations will be put in place as to how many times videos can be downloaded. This now means that all terristrial (analogue) televisions stations have become part of the Broadband empire making their most attractive programmes available for viewing or repeating at a time most convient for the audience.

With this in mind, and more and more of the audience turning to the Internet as a provider for their entretainment needs, my inital proposal for my majoy project (please refer to next post for major project final resolution) seems ever more viable.

Joost however is a new way of watching television on the Internet. Joosts‘ aims are to bring the best of television and the best of the Internet together in high quality for the viewer to watch and its main innovation is to provide the first free to access online global television platform. They have been in development for a considerable amount of time now and have already signed up supportand sponsorship from large companies such as Nike and Coca Cola. With this platform so close to hand, any ideas which I now prototype (for example bringing the social network of MySpace together with an online broadcasted soap opera) may not only become more successful, but the idea in itself more global.

06/03/2007 – Progression of the blog

Since submitting my proposal for my major project and having several dicussions with tutors and others, my major project has now developed and has refined into something very specific. I will still be utilising the function of the blog to add to my general research as and when new sources arise, as I feel it is important to continue realising how this very new environment is changing and developing.

I will also be creating a new or several new categories specifically for the major project, as this now needs focused research, case studies, and development of it’s own. With regards to the change in focus, I shall now be committing to the following path of artefacts and respective research;

• Investigating the worlds first online based soap opera, ‘Chalkhill Lives’, through documentary. This will then be uploaded to the Internet where Chalkhill is shown, to compliment and enlighten it’s audience, as well as build up a foundation of creating web based content. This will provide me however with a good knowledge and deep insite into the way it functions, it’s reasons for being based on the Internet, and it’s characters and story lines in preparation for my own project.
• Using Myspace as an existing platform I shall then endeavour to create character profiles for some of the major characters in Chalkhill. The pages created would include such things as interests, blogs, videos, and extra ‘mini episodes’ which will act as a way of enriching the audiences experience of Chalkhill Lives. This will also create an interactive and almost exclusive audience partition between those who do and do not use the Internet.
• Through good management I shall then add to these pages on a regular basis through blogs and vlogs, and observe to see how people react whether through viewing the page, adding the characters as friends, leaving messages and so forth. This will allow me to determine over the period of a month or two, whether or not such a device as the potential to raise the profile of and enrich an already existing Internet based programme.
• Finally in evaluation of the entire process I shall then make a proposed reccommendation to anyone who is thinking about moving into this new space, how to best utilise what I have studied and I may then propose my own online series of programmes.

This is the initial plan of how I will now take the next step into resolving my major projects resolution.

01/03/07 – The Future of Television

With an eye on the future, Informitv is a website which focuses on interactive, mobile and broadband based television broadcasts. This site offers a feed into the latest news on this subject such as the BBC’s and ITV’s collaboration in producing multicast streams on the Internet, in high quality audio and visual, of their respective channels.  This site also offers such information as forthcoming events, prospective jobs, essential reports as well as a glossary of terms. It is a very simple site to navigate around but a very useful one for staying on par with the current situation without having to hunt very far.

A very interesting press release on this site entitled “Broadband beats broadcast in network television revolution” hi-lights the potential reasons why the revolution we are currently seeing will soon be in favour of the Internet generation. For more information on this please refer to the report ‘IPTV: Broadband meets broadcast – The Network television revolution’  which is priority reading for anyone interested in the future of telvision. You do have to order this report however, and so as soon as mine has arrived I shall no doubt be adding my thoughts upon it to this blog.  

Please note IPTV is an acronym for Internet Protocol Television, something we will no doubt be stumbling on a lot more throughout this research. It covers all of the digital and other audio and visual services which may be provided over a broadband connection.

Informitv should therefore be a ‘favorite’ for anyone who is interested in this field of study or research.

Chalkhill Online

Here’s an interesting tag along site created by a company who Chalkhill use as a location to film. Road Runner Dispatch may be a courier service, but behind the scenes it also acts as Chalkhills location for a police station, youth centre and recruitment office. Truly a company supporting the community based project.

 An interesting but brief blog entry by Sven Iatham gives one possible reason why people may watch Chalkhill Lives. Coming from the local area where it is filmed, he states that his interest comes from knowing the area and then seeing it online. He also believes it to be of better production values then he initially thought. In relation to Road Runner Dispatch, maybe the employees there too watch the show in knowledge of what the venue really is.

Even Portsmouth local newspaper, The News, have been getting in on the act. On February the 3rd  in their weekend supplement they included a front cover and two page spread about the up and coming soap opera, some of which can be seen on the Internet. Giving the essential lowdown of the soap, it’s characters, purpose and some information about its creator, it’s coverage like this which helps to increase the awareness and maintain an audience for the show.

So whether through locations, blogs or the media itself, Chalkhill is getting promoted by various bodies and people with varying viewpoints. Each example here is quite short and sweet but offers a variety of links on the Internet to research. Therefore it would seem essential to ensure that you not only give credit to those involved but also make sure you have a marketing stratgey which involves them, the audience and the media to create a synergistic network who together promote the online soap.

Bibliography

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England. Open University Press.

 

Weblinks 

ABC News; http://abcnews.go.com/ accessed on Saturday 2^nd December 2006.
ABC Yet Another Bit Torrent Client; http://pingpong-abc.sourceforge.net/ accessed on Monday 8^th January 2007.
AOL; http://www.aol.co.uk/ accessed on Thursday 7^th December 2006.
A Brief History of Internet Multicast; http://www.arl.wustl.edu/~sherlia/thesis/chap1/node3.html accessed on Saturday 2^nd December 2006.
BBC News; http://news.bbc.co.uk/ accessed on Saturday 9^th December 2006.
Beeline TV; http://beelinetv.com/ accessed on Saturday 9^th December 2006.
BidTv; http://www.bid.tv/ accessed on Monday 29^th January 2007.
Bitlord; http://www.bitlord.com/ accessed on Monday 8^th January 2007. Broadcast-live; http://broadcast-live.com/television/index.html accessed on Saturday 9^th December 2006.
C4 plans interactive TV series BBC online article; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4283094.stm accessed on Friday 12th January 2007. Celebrity Big Brother 5; http://www.channel4.com/bigbrother/index.jsp accessed on Wednesday 10th January 2007.
Chalkhill Lives; http://www.chalkhill-lives.co.uk/ accessed on Thursday 30^th November 2007.
Chalkhill Lives on the Community Channel; http://www.communitychannel.org/content/view/1193/16/ accessed on Saturday 10^th February 2007.
Citizen Journalism definition; http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&safe=off&defl=en&q=define:Citizen+journalism&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title accessed on Thursday 7^th December 2006.
Citizen Journalism Awards; http://www.citizenjournalismawards.com/ accessed on Wednesday 7^th February 2007.
Collaberation enables TV show to reach teens with drug message; http://www.thinkbox.tv/server/show/ConCaseStudy.225 accessed on Friday 12th January 2007.
Commodore Amiga; http://www.old-computers.com/MUSEUM/computer.asp?c=28 accessed on Saturday 2^nd December 2006.
Crafty TV; http://www.craftytv.com/ accessed on Saturday 9^th December 2006.

Creative
Commons; http://creativecommons.org/ accessed on Tuesday 9^th January 2007.
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Current TV; http://www.current.tv/ accessed on Saturday 6^th January 2007.
Current TV on Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_TV accessed on Saturday 6^th January 2007. CU-SeeMe; http://www.cuworld.com/  accessed on Saturday 2^nd December 2006.Dubplate Drama; http://www.dubplatedrama.tv/ accessed on Friday 12^th January 2007.Dubplate Drama on Channel 4; http://www.channel4.com/music/microsites/D/dubplatedrama// accessed on Friday 12^th January 2007.E4 on demand; http://www.channel4.com/4od/ accessed on Thusrady 8^th February 2007. Elephants Dream on IMDB; http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0807840/ accessed on Tuesday 9^th January 2007. ESPN; http://espn.go.com/ Saturday 9^th December 2006.First Film Premiered on the Internet? Article; http://blog.glennf.com/mtarchives/2003_09.html accessed on Saturday 2^nd December 2006.Great moments in Multimedia History; http://writing.atomicmartinis.com/moments.htm accessed on Saturday 2^nd December 2006.Gore’s TV idea seems more Current article; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/14/MNGCIKHTRQ1.DTL by Garofoli, G. (2006.)., accessed on Saturday 6^th January 2007. Google Video; http://video.google.co.uk/ accessed on Thursday 7^th December 2006. HBO on Demand; http://www.hbo.com/hboondemand/ accessed on Thursday 8^th February 2007. Heroes TV series; http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/ accessed on Monday 8^th January 2007. Homemade; http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/t4/microsites/H/homemade/ accessed on Monday 12^th February 2007. Hotmail; http://www.hotmail.com/ accessed on Thursday 7^th December 2006. Ideal World; http://www.idealworld.tv/ accessed on Monday 29^th January 2007. Internet Talk Radio; http://museum.media.org/radio/ accessed on Saturday 2^nd December 2006.IPTV; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPTV accessed on Saturday 2^nd December 2006.Jail Break on Channel 5, http://www.cisco.com/application/pdf/en/us/guest/netsol/ns128/c647/ccmigration_09186a0080088a0d.pdf accessed on Wednesday 10th January 2007. Kazaa; http://www.kazaa.com/us/index.htm accessed on Monday 8^th January 2007. Limewire; http://www.limewire.com/english/content/home.shtml accessed on Monday 8^th January 2007. Lost TV series; http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index accessed on Monday 8^th January 2007.

Love
Island on ITV; http://loveisland.itv.com/ Wednesday 10th January 2007. Mininova; http://www.mininova.org/ accessed on Monday 8^th January 2007. Multicast Backbone defined; http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=SUNA,SUNA:2006-48,SUNA:en&q=define%3a+multicast+backbone accessed on Saturday 2^nd December 2006.Multimedia defined; http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&rls=SUNA,SUNA:2006-48,SUNA:en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=define:+multimedia&spell=1 accessed on Saturday 2^nd December 2006.MSN Messenger; http://get.live.com/messenger/overview accessed on Thursday 7^th December 2006. MTV; http://www.mtv.com/ accessed on Saturday 9^th December 2006. MTV generation on Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTV_Generation accessed on Monday 8th January 2007. MySpace; http://www.myspace.com/ accessed on Thursday 7^th December 2006. Myspace; http://www.myspace.com/methodworksproduction accessed on Thursday 30^th November 2007.Nickelodeon; http://www.nick.com/ accessed on Saturday 9^th December 2006. On the Box; http://www.onthebox.com/partner/otb/ accessed on Saturday 9^th December 2006.
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13/02/07 – Definition

Television and Film in an Online Environment 

 The purpose of this document is to collate my current ideas and research and to note where I am with regards to my major project at this moment in time. It is highly likely that the resolution to this project may change as the research meanders. Please note that the term film refers to the moving image, and television refers to the typical televised content on terrestrial, digital and cable television stations.  

(i) Aims  

My aims of this project are to develop a foundation of knowledge for the use of film, video, television and the moving image in general (in relation to the filmed moving image) on the Internet, to case study a particular online production in the form of both written and filmed documentation, and to then use this knowledge to replicate my own production for the Internet. The case study will not only assist me in understanding the way the production is carried out and also the reasons for choosing such a medium of publication, but will also provide me with an initial programme to submit for Internet viewing. Taking this to the next stage, I shall then utilise what I have learnt to pen out an idea for another show and then attempt to produce in the same light a single episode or short film. This will also be uploaded to the Internet and hopefully I will gather feedback from it. All in all I will improve and extend my knowledge of video production on a relatively new and exciting platform. 

(ii) Objectives  

Therefore the main objectives of this project are to;- research into the different approaches and formats film has taken on the web, and to engage with the type of audience they attract.- case study an existing online programme to uncover what it’s all about, how it is produced and why it is produced for the Internet (in the form of a filmed documentary).- upload and gain feedback on the research, ideas and case study I have developed to refine my own production.- produce a short film or single episode in a similar format to the case studied, and to upload this for Internet viewing. - to record over a short period of time how successful this endeavour has been.  

(iii) Explanation  

I have been working in the mode of film for three years, having taken a degree in Video Production, and wish to develop this further in a real time media setting. My background has focused on documentary during my course, corporate during private work and sporting and debating events in my leisure time, and I now wish to diversify this by incorporating aspects of drama, and drama production. My aspirations of becoming a Director/Producer now have the foundations of film making but I must ensure I practice what I know but I also shift towards drama and fiction as these are ultimately the modes of film I want to produce.  

My experience working along side the producer of Chalkhill Lives has already given me an insight into the world of the online soap opera. I have assisted in both production and post-production have een involved in workshops and rehearsals. I am however intrigued by the concept of film produced for the Internet and the type of audience it appeals to. Chalkhill claims to have an audience of some 1 million, but if this is the case, why does it seem to be struggling for funding, and why hasn’t it developed much over the past three years?. I am aware of its production context but feel this could be greater expanded and developed to ensure others also understand what angle it is coming from as well as its intended messages and its reason for positioning itself as an online community soap opera.  

During my video production degree, during a History and Theory Unit I looked at and discussed in detail the communities developed by Soap Opera audiences. This along with my work experience at Chalkhill Lives has created a good body of knowledge for this project, but has also left many questions unanswered. In my paper I note that the key theorists, particularly Geraghty, make a number of statements which I do not entirely agree with and would look arguing against. The world of the soap opera and drama series is ever changing and adapting to suite new audiences. Audiences therefore will play a key theme in this project.  

The Internet is also a new platform for me to be working with and on so I am passionate about trying new things and adapting to new environments. I am also keen to work with music producers to collaborate this film with people I’ve never met before, and to look at ways of designing a webpage that is suitable for homing all of my films.  

 

(iv) Research  

My research comes in the form of an online blog, utilising and synthesising skills which I have thus far learnt on this course. This format has been used rather then other methods, not only because it is an online and real time format, but also because it will allow others to gain access to it and to contribute and comment on my current research and thoughts. It is also a medium which is far more eco-friendly and allows instant editing where necessary whether in the order and category of each blog, or updating or adding to an individual article from the authors point of view, and easy and instant access to tutors, peers and researchers alike. As this is my first attempt at approaching research in such a way, I began my blog offline building it up gradually over the last few months, before going online. This gave me practice in this style, and also got me into a routine of spending half an hour every other night carrying out some research. My interest in this project has thus stayed fresh as a result and I look to continue using this method until I come to a point when I am ready to begin working on my final resolution.
Although I had an intended subject for my case study of an online production (in the form of Chalkhill Lives) I felt it necessary to begin my research looking at the foundation of video and film on the Internet, a little on the history, how and why it is utilised and to see if I could place these uses into categories. Even though I have focused on film and television I have not shied away from such mediums as webcams, which arguably whether through video blogs or live conference calls actually contribute to some of the great films and moving images on the Internet today. In this respect I briefly touch on the modes of both filming and uploading footage on the Internet. Cumulatively this then helped me to define the differences as well as similarities between online and offline audiences as well as producers, and why people may come online to specifically watch a short piece of film rather then watch it on the television, and why authorship on the Internet is far more abundant and exponential in its growth. I did however dicover difficulties in finding the intended information I wanted but managed to find another way in which in some respect showed me a timeline of the moving image from conference calling to television.  

With this firmly established I then looked at the way television had crossed onto the Internet. The Internet as a multimedia application allows for many applications to run simultaneously as does the PC or Mac it is being used on. Television is now streamed across broadband services from all across the world. Therefore the way television content is being watched, marketed, sold, and ultimately positioned on the Internet is completely different to what we knew before. The relatively new platform of the Internet has allowed for television content to not only become more viewer involved, but also allows the audience to time shift its viewing and to even download their favourite television shows.  

The Case Study of an actual online soap opera, Chalkhill Lives, was then used as an example of a programme produced specifically for the Internet and an online audience. Initial research here touched on both the actual soap opera and my critical opinion of it. 

From this point on I would intend to begin researching to produce a documentary on Chalkhill Lives, mainly through interviews and then by scripting and storyboarding an outline to answer specific questions. The documentary in itself will not only help me in my production but will also open up the ideas of producing for the Internet to an online audience. I shall also begin reading such books as “Writing Short Films” (Cowgill, 2005) and “On Creating Short Film for the Web” (Curtis, 2006) to develop a sense of not only scripting and story, but setting this in an online environment. Establishing my own storyline will have to be based around something I am a familiar with and something which is feasible to film. Overall I look forward to the coming months and realise that my proposal and ideas may change, but more then likely for the better. This idea is still fluid and I realise that through forthcoming tutorials and group peer assessment I will refine my ideas and focus.  

 

(v) Timetable Following is a loose guide of how I intend to follow through this project; 

February:               Continue research.March:                    Case study Chalkhill Lives.Write initial script and produce story board for documentary. April:                       Film documentary.May:                        Post Production: Edit documentary. Obtain music.
Upload documentary to the Internet. June:                      Write initial script for own production. Storyboard short film/episode.Begin casting.July:                       Production: Rehearsals/Shoot film/episode. August:                  Post production: Edit film/episode.Upload to Internet. September:            Collate any feedback to artefact and note how many people viewed it.Produced a written report summarising and evaluating the success of this project,

13/02/07 – Preparations for Proposal

My initial idea therefore stands as follows;-          through video production and online publishing I want to produce a documented case study on Chalkhill Lives, looking at the production and community related side, and then the marketing and publishing side. I hope to collaborate with online music producers to assist in creating the right mood. This I will then upload onto the appropriate setting on the Internet for viewing.-          In response to my findings I will then endeavour to go about producing my own short soap drama of some kind, documenting and vlogging my development along the way. These may come together to form a ‘making of’ short documentary before the final resolution is screened, and again placed onto the appropriate Internet setting for viewing and audience feedback