Everybody wants to save the planet, and everybody wants to eat good food, right? So why not combine the two and begin the journey already!
Climate change is causing increasing anxiety worldwide, with 8 out of 10 people seeing it as a severe threat to their country (Fagan & Huang 2019). In addition, there is a growing recognition that our food choices and nutrition substantially impact our carbon footprint. Due to the catastrophic consequences of climate change and resource extraction, many people feel an urgent need to minimise their environmental impact. One way is to reduce your carbon footprint, which is a measure of your total glasshouse gas emissions from activities such as driving a car or using electricity and lifestyle choices such as what you wear and eat.
So, what can you do to make your everyday meals have a lower carbon footprint?
While there are numerous strategies for reducing one’s carbon footprint, changing one’s diet is an excellent place to start. According to some studies, switching to more sustainable eating patterns could result in a 70% reduction in glasshouse gas emissions and a 50% reduction in water consumption (Aleksandrowicz et al. 2016).
Meal Max, an Australian start-up, analyses your supermarket receipt and measures the carbon footprint of your purchases to calculate the climate impact of what you eat. The company strives to minimise carbon emissions linked with food production and delivery, which represent one-third of total global glasshouse gas emissions. To use the app, users simply scan their supermarket receipt, and the software recognises the food products by analysing the printed text and utilising machine learning. It then determines the carbon footprint based on the store’s location and compares the kind, weight, and provenance of a meal to a database. The database is kept up to date within the application. Suppose a receipt lacks sufficient information about a product. In that case, Meal Max provides an estimate based on similar items and reference points such as national import and export statistics, which suggest where food is likely to have travelled from.
Additionally, Meal Max seeks to increase public knowledge of the carbon footprints of various meals. Whilst most people know that animal products are typically more resource-intensive than most plant-based alternatives, many other factors go unnoticed. Since importing effects increases their carbon footprint, the app assists in identifying other critical distinctions between items, such as seasonality or whether refrigeration was required during the journey to market like Coles or Woolworths. Additionally, it provides personalised tips based on your purchases for reducing shopping-related emissions.
What could possibly be more distressing than Climate Crisis?
Feeling helpless in the face of adversity. This sense of powerlessness can stem from various factors, not the least of which is how difficult it is to determine where to begin your climate change venture. Whilst joining the climate movement may seem intimidating, do not let perfection become the enemy of the good. Take a tiny step with us, and we shall get closer to reducing our carbon footprint.
We’re developing the Meal Max app to assist people in taking the first steps towards a more sustainable future by tracking the carbon footprint of their everyday food/grocery shopping.
The carbon footprint of the food itself is rarely considered when we consume our meals on a regular basis. Food is imported from all over the world to feed growing populations, and it may travel hundreds of kilometres before reaching your plate. As a result of the fuel and energy burned to facilitate this travel, glasshouse pollution directly impacts the global climate.
Our ‘Meal Max’ application is a concept that has the potential to make a significant difference in the way our everyday lives impact the environment around us. Your undivided support will contribute to a more sustainable future for ourselves and future generations by pledging to assist fund our project and bring our concept to life.
We believe that ‘Meal Max’ will likewise raise the bar for openness in the food business. Consumers will have more information and freedom when evaluating the value provided by companies regarding how ethically sourced their food is, which will drive better business practices. In addition, we think that providing customers with clarity and a focal point will increase their faith in the products they buy and the companies from whom they buy them (Appel et al. 2019).
Finally, we require your assistance in disseminating our message. We want our app to inspire a larger audience to embrace the concept of sustainability and environmental stewardship. More individuals will be informed and involved in generating a more significant shift towards a more ethical and sustainable lifestyle as more people pledge to support and download our app.
Gamification is a compelling device to attract, engage and retain consumers. If we take what people love about games and apply them to lifestyle applications, they are sure to turn out to be more entertaining and fun.
And the best part is you don’t necessarily have to be a gaming app to apply game tactics. Today, fitness apps have twisted tedious jogs into a race against zombie hordes. Productivity apps pit us against time to get us to complete our chores. With heaps of apps available in the app store, developing an app that remains needs more than just a great product. In recent years, since being in the digital age, mobile apps have become more and more popular in the fitness world. Gamification, the use of game design elements in non-game contexts, is often implemented in persuasive systems aimed to promote physical activity (Zuckerman, O and Gal-Oz, A, 2014, pg 13). It needs an interactive user experience. Even simple rewards like discount coupons or online badges or points can be effective motivators for consumers to finish a task or make a purchase.
Different trends around the world create different ways to gamify the applications we use in our everyday lives. Many developers in modern media are finding new ways to solidify their daily users and ensure that, as creators, individuals are constantly using their applications. Gamification is an extremely popular choice in how to ensure more users on these apps, as typical gaming software is implemented into apps that usually wouldn’t be created for the use of gaming.
‘Streaks’, a concept created by a popular application called Snapchat, awarded users with a displayable ’emoji’ and filter to show individuals the consecutive number of days they interacted with one another. By implementing this idea within their software, Snapchat has massively increased the daily use of the application and brought its effects into the real world. Users, mostly teenagers, when questioned about how they feel about the Snapchat streak and what does it means to them, stated that the longer the streak is, the more meaningful their relationship is with the other person.
Now, educationalists are emphasising on cognitive learning techniques that would keep students engaged and motivated. One such education application is Byju’s.
With Byju’s educational app, students are mastering vital concepts through the means of interactive videos, practice tests, and adaptive module sessions.Byju’s use of gamification has allowed students to play games, partake in activities, earn reward points, and challenge their peers through various competitions and quizzes. Competing with each other motivates pupils to work harder to achieve better results. This sort of gamification results in a win-win situation for the app as well as its users. By measuring users’ performance through quiz results, developing team evaluates the efficiency of the app and design more effective modules.
Starbucks was also one of the few companies to initially integrate gamification into its app. The Starbucks app features a loyalty program that rewards users with stars for each order placed, which can then be redeemed for free food and drinks. With a rewards or loyalty program, apps can boost retention by incentivizing users to come back to the app to redeem the points or discounts they earned from previous orders.
A gamified application must offer a worthwhile experience; otherwise, people are not going to use it. At the same time, its success has to be measured.
Let me know in the comments below what are some of your favorite apps that use gamification!
Thanks for coming guys, you all are amazing! 😊
REFERENCE LIST
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Zuckerman, O. and Gal-Oz, A., 2014. Deconstructing Gamification: Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Continuous Measurement, Virtual Rewards, And Social Comparison For Promoting Physical Activity. [online] Milab.idc.ac.il. Available at: <http://milab.idc.ac.il/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Deconstructing-gamification.pdf> [Accessed 9 May 2020].
Have you ever collected Coles Stikeez, bragged about your snap score on Snapchat, or filled out a complete profile on LinkedIn – because you wanted to reach that 100% on the profile completeness? Guess what, you’ve been gamified!
Gamification is the concept of using game design elements in non-game applications to make them more fun and engaging (Johnson et al. 2016, p.90). It may include scores, leader boards, competitions, stickers or badges, and can be found in industries as varied as health, education—and, of course, business marketing. If you take what people love about games and apply it to other things, they become more enjoyable and fun.
Some marketers use it to increase consumer engagement while others try to motivate their employee behaviour. While gamification in business has become a popular buzzword in the last few years, it cannot be denied that the practice of using game-like mechanics has been around for a long time. An airline loyalty program or a happy hour in your local bar are just some of the cases. It is apparent that multiple businesses throughout the world have integrated gamification in their marketing to get consumers to reap in rewards for their efforts. For instance, food chains like Boost Juice and Hungry Jacks have witnessed successes with their ‘Free the Fruit’ and ‘Shake & Win’ apps creating more publicity and purchases for their business. However, what if we took these gaming aspects, and applied them within the workplace to increase motivation amid employees?
‘Linkedin’ by happyyiu21 (CC0)
‘Petrol Station’ by hazmanaziz (CC0)
Motivation within a workplace is an ever-changing and dynamic landscape that can radically affect the overall ambience of the workplace. Going to the same place every morning, mostly carrying out similar tasks repetitively can sometimes be physically and mentally draining as you begin to think, is it truly worth my effort? Gamification when integrated well, tends to fetch not just a single advantage to a company’s manager or director but heaps. It can ensure a higher level of engagement as well as job satisfaction from employees. Consequently, a satisfied and happy employee is more likely to engage customers. As Robson et al. (2015) pointed out when discussing the workplace tool ‘Freshdesk’, “Happy Agent = Happy Customer”. I feel this is relevant to almost all work environments.
‘Meeting Business’ by unknown (CC0)
There’s nothing like a little competitive element to increase learning engagement and have enterprise employees try to outdo each other. Gamification, after all, is not that different from decades-old employee motivation techniques such as “employee of the month” awards and employee recognition programs. One of the most important implications of gamification is that it offers employers a new avenue for motivating or compensating employees without changing the fundamental nature of the task itself. Gamification has the ability to “increase motivation, engagement, and promote desired learning behaviors” (Alsawaier, 2018). In other words, gamification, when well designed, will enhance productivity and worker feelings about the workplace without additional compensation or resources.
Whilst most people have realised the advantages of gamification in the workplace, some critics believe it a form of exploitation and manipulation by companies to have employees participate in activities they do not intend to. However, Anaki Kumar disagreed in her TED Talk and stated that with the right implementation, gamification can foster positive ambience and bring out pleasant experiences. Moreover, finding the right balance of gamification is essential to keep your employees engaged, but not stressed or overwhelmed.
‘Stressed’ by lukasbieri (CC0)
The market for gamification is projected to grow significantly in the next coming years. The good news is that using such extensive technologies in a way that people appreciate, organisations can continually engage employees and at the same time create real and measurable behavioural change those results in to generate significant business value.
Thanks for reading guys! Stay tuned for the next one 🙂
REFERENCE:
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Alsawaier, R., 2018, The effect of gamification on motivation and engagement. International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, 35(1), p.59, accessed 9 May 2020
Johnson, D, Deterding, S, Kuhn, K-A, Staneva, A, Stoyanov, S & Hides, L 2016, ‘Gamification for health and wellbeing: A systematic review of the literature’, Internet Interventions, vol. 6, pp. 89–106, doi: 10.1016/j.invent.2016.10.002
Robson, Karen, Plangger, Kirk, Kietzmann, Jan H., McCarthy, Ian & Pitt, Leyland 2015, ‘Game on: Engaging customers and employees through gamification’, Business Horizons, vol. 59, no. 1, January–February 2016, pp. 29
In my video, I chose to explore the topic of Digital Divide and how the society that we live in and our age can cause digital divides. The main focal points I wanted to target within the video included what digital divides basically are and what are the factors that causes these divides. I decided to make this video in more of a jazzy style, to make it more appealing to the audience. This ensured that they don’t get bored by just watching a six minutes documentary. As I stated in the video, Regnedda and Muschert did a study and gave three levels to digital divide. This highlights the idea of the video on how many factors are responsible in giving birth to digital divide. I tried to keep the footage casual yet professional.
Video By Raghav Khanna
Planning this video was a bit of a struggle for me. I knew I wanted to focus the video on Digital Divides as I find it fascinating. However, it was a task to come up with an intriguing point of view with such an open topic. I began planning my video by writing down a few ideas which I wanted to focus on. Then I took inspiration from the study notes as a part of the tutorials and determined what data and content I wanted to include in the video. Prior to scripting, I conducted a Creative Commons (CC) search that would inform my ‘real-life’ examples of digital divide. When story-boarding, I collected resources available as well as footage necessary to capture. This time I tried to create as many clips as I could by using different effects, animations, filters and stickers. However, due to excessive content, I had to narrow it down as the video could only be a maximum of eight minutes.
Photos Application
The content was then paired with a clear voice-over narration that asked viewers to ‘imagine.’ I ensured voice-over was refined by the removal of deep breathes, and disturbances. A fun and electronic soundtrack was selected to evoke a sense of excitement and pique the viewer’s interest. The use of background music added another dimension to the video. I also found it essential to align image transition with the voice-over. I made sure to speak clearly with varied expressions and tonality in my voice. I think this helped enhance audience engagement, as it provides the viewer with a greater sense of progression whilst watching the video. Learning how to edit overlays, adding transitions and input text on the screen was also a learning curve, and I found that YouTube provided adequate help when learning to do so. I explored new editing software which would allow me to edit my project without imposing a watermark. Finally, I found ‘Shortcut’, which I studied deeply through YouTube tutorials. When choosing the creative commons source material, I decided to go with those images and clips that were visually interesting, to keep the context of my video solely focused around the topic. I have included some animations, 3D effects, headings, credits, and transitions between clips to create a smoother and more rounded video. I created most of the images and video clips using ‘Photos’ application.
Shortcut Editing Software
In creating a successful video strategy, I encountered
various obstacles. Choosing the topic was challenging in itself because of the
scope. I found it difficult to search for images and videos that can be used as
there are not many options available. Studying the topic, drafting the
information, creating clips, working out what images and clips to include,
voice recording, and editing it was all very time-consuming.
I discovered how to use animations and effects in my video to make it look aesthetic and organised. Making this video also gave me a chance to take all the advice on the challenges I faced whilst making my second video project. Through exploring new software, I got rid of the watermark problem. I also tried to keep the volume of the background music lower this time.
References:
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Davidson, E, & Cotton, S,
2010, Connection Disparities: The Importance of Broadband Connections in
Understanding Today’s Digital Divide, Information Science Reference, retrieved
25 September 2019
Ragnedda, M & Muschert, GW,
2017, ‘Social Capital and the three levels of digital divide’, Theorizing
Digital Divides, vol.1, issue 1, p. 21-34, retrieved 25 September 2019, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/li…
PHOTOS & VIDEO CREDITS:
“A Man Steers a Rickshaw” By Vidvevo, Royalty Free
How many times a day do you think you’re caught on camera? Find out how many cameras are actually watching us every day!
‘Surveillance – New Ways of watching’ By Raghav Khanna
In my video, I chose to explore the topic of surveillance and the new ways in which we are being watched today. The main focal points I wanted to target within the video included how are we being watched and what the future for surveillance looks like. I decided to make this video is more of a documentary style, to make it more appealing to the audience. This ensured that they don’t get bored by just watching me talk for three minutes. As I stated in the video, I wasn’t particularly on the lookout for security cameras, but I still managed to find roughly 8 of them. This highlights the idea of the video on how many cameras track our actions throughout the day. I tried to keep the footage casual yet professional.
Planning this video was a bit of a struggle for me. I knew I wanted to focus the video on surveillance as I find it fascinating. However, it was a task to come up with an intriguing point of view with such an open topic. I began planning my video by writing down a few ideas which I wanted to focus on. Then I took inspiration from the study notes as a part of the tutorials and determined what data and content I wanted to include in the video. Prior to scripting, I conducted a Creative Commons (CC) search that would inform my ‘real-life’ examples of surveillance. When story-boarding, I collected resources available as well as footage necessary to capture. However, due to excessive content, I had to narrow it down as the video could only be a maximum of three minutes.
Video Editing By Raghav Khanna
The content was then paired with a clear voice-over narration that asked viewers to ‘imagine.’ I ensured voice-over was refined by the removal of deep breathes, and disturbances. A thrilling and mysterious soundtrack was selected to evoke a sense of excitement and pique the viewer’s interest. The use of background music added another dimension to the video. I also found it essential to align image transition with the voice-over. I made sure to speak clearly with varied expressions and tonality in my voice. I think this helped enhance audience engagement, as it provides the viewer with a greater sense of progression whilst watching the video. Learning how to edit overlays and input text on the screen was also a learning curve, and I found that YouTube provided adequate help when learning to do so. When choosing the creative commons source material, I decided to go with those images that were visually interesting, to keep the context of my video solely focused around surveillance. I have included some headings, credits, and transitions between clips to create a smoother and more rounded video. Most of the images and video clips came from Pixarbay.
In creating a successful video strategy, I encountered various obstacles. Choosing the topic was challenging in itself because of the scope and the strict time limit. I found it difficult to search for images and videos that can be used as there are not many options available. Initially, I struggled to put enough information together to talk about in the video. However, by the end of it, I had the opposite problem, as there was far too much content. Studying the topic, drafting the information, working out what images and clips to include, editing it was all very time-consuming.
Now being a creator myself, I learned how important it is to understand the topic of Copyright and why it is crucial to respect other creators’ work. I discovered how to use overlays in my video to make it look aesthetic and organised. Making this video also gave me a chance to take all the advice on the challenges I faced whilst making my first introduction video.
VIDEO CREDITS
A Desktop Computer with Illuminated Keyboard (CC0)
Politics has always been one of the most sensational topics throughout the world. In my podcast, I talk about some impacts of Social Media on Politics and how it particularly has affected it. The podcast explains how politicians are constantly using social media as a platform to express their opinions and to influence the public into believing what they are saying is the truth. Social media has significantly helped the politicians by increasing their reachability and accessibility to the general public, in a cost and time effective manner. On the contrary, social media also has had many negative impacts on politics. Out of all the news that people witness on social media, more than 50% of the content is either a rumor or half-truth, while the rest of it lacks validity/validation from official sources. People start believing things that they read on social media which impacts their political behavior and thus their approach towards politics. The strategy that I adopted while making the podcast was to divide the podcast into three parts. The first of them being introduction followed by the positive impacts and then the negatives. This was done to ensure that people are able to understand podcast easily and that they are able to make links with the different aspects discussed in it. I’ve also used current examples in my podcast so that people could relate to the topic. Throughout the podcast, I made sure to interact with the audience by making it into a discussion rather than a speech. This ensured that the content doesn’t get boring but rather interactive and engaging. After my research, I got to understand how social media helps in changing the political behaviors of people which can ultimately impact the elections as well. To enhance the quality of my podcast I decided to add some music to it which gave it a very pleasing effect. I got the music file I used is Chill — sakura Hz which was released by audiolibrary.com.au. Audi Library creates music which is free to use for creators. One of the challenges that I faced was to edit my podcast and add music into it. I did not have any experience in editing video or audio files. So what I did was to learn some basic editing techniques by watch YouTube videos and reading blogs. Through this task, I learned how to make professional podcasts and as well as about the positives and negatives of the social media on politics. The experience of creating a podcast strengthened my communication skills and improved my confidence to audio record myself.
Reference List:
Kornberg,
A, Linder, D & Cooper, J 1970, ‘Understanding Political Behavior: The
Relevance of Reactance Theory’, Midwest
Journal of Political Science, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 131-138, doi:
10.2307/2110395
Music:
Chill — sakura Hz released by audiolibrary.com.au (CC BY 3.0)
Welcome to my first ever post! If you’re reading this, I have successfully managed to begin my blog. So, let me start by telling you a little bit about myself.
It’s been two weeks in Australia, meeting new people and embracing new cultural challenges seems both, daunting and exciting. Living abroad and experiencing a different culture is an adventure and a challenge; and undeniably the most exciting time of my life. I’m trying to become independent and adjust in this new world and all this without the support and help of my friends and family. This is quite a significant change! But as it is said… Life begins at the end of the comfort zone.
Hello everyone! As all of you would’ve already understood it by now, I’m an international student in Australia studying at Deakin University, Geelong, undertaking Bachelor of Communication and majoring in Digital Media, which I believe would be quite a fun to pursue.
I’m from India, celebrated for its creative burst of cultures, religions, races and tongues. You might know India for ‘Taj Mahal‘ which is one of the most splendid pieces of architecture in the world! The largest democracy in the world, as well as one of the most dynamic economies, India is a land of contrasts. I was brought up in a town in North India, calledAmritsar, which is famous for one of the holiest shrine of all shrines, the Golden Temple! From temples so magnificent they’ll make your eyes water, to the food you’ll be longing for days after it hits your lips, Amritsar is India at its colorful, lively best. From melt-in-mouth chicken tikka to cream-laden, extra-large tumblers of yogurt lassi, Amritsar is an Indian food lover’s dream destination!
As you can already tell, being an ‘Amritsari’ I’m a food enthusiast, constantly looking for interesting recipes to relish my taste buds. I like to cook not just for myself but for others as well. For some, cooking is just a chore, a nuisance. But for others, there’s an art form to it. For me, It’s the latter. Not only is the act of cooking meditative on its own, but it is also what’s called behavioral activation. To put together a good meal, you have to be engaged and present. You need to taste, make snap judgments, add or subtract heat. You can’t just stare out the window and think about your ex.
So what’s the approach behind all of this? What I wanted you all to get through my blog is that life is no different than cooking. You’d be thinking what kind of a connection is that? Well, as I said, food is something which demands your attention. Likewise, in life, we need to be engaged and present. The principal reason I’ve started my blog is to be socially active and engaging. I want to interact with new people with diverse ideas and creativity. I think this will foster my knowledge and help me unleash my creative ideas. I want to create a network of like-minded people so that we can meet and connect.
I am as much a citizen of Instagram or Twitter as I am of India. But are we really our true selves online and does it actually matter? You might just be more than an account. Let’s dive into this topic today as I discuss both my online and offline identities with you all!
We’re the internet generation, the kids who grew up in an age of smartphones and social media. For the first time, we are able to live our days with others online. I’m as close with people halfway across the world as I am with my friends I see and meet every day. Yet as a result of this, we have a problem. Am I the same Raghav as I am online? See, my online self looks like me, talks like me, has most of the same dreams, aspirations, and goals, but isn’t really all of me. Well, we can share most of ourselves online now than ever previously possible, but we choose not to. Instead, we curate. Online I can be more of a highlight reel than my actual self. And that is great since who wouldn’t want to be seen as the best version of themselves. I’m different at school, I’m different at home and I’m different on the Internet. I happen to speak a few different languages and I feel like I am a whole different person in each and every one of them. Online identity can no longer be regarded as a separate construction, in antithesis with offline identity, but as an integral part of the individual’s identity system, being influenced by and at the same time influencing the whole (Frunzaru & Garbasevchi 2016, p. 4).
We’re the internet generation, the kids who grew up in an age of smartphones and social media. For the first time, we are able to live our days with others online. I’m as close with people halfway across the world as I am with my friends I see and meet every day. Yet as a result of this, we have a problem. Am I the same Raghav as I am online? See, my online self looks like me, talks like me, has most of the same dreams, aspirations, and goals, but isn’t really all of me. Well, we can share most of ourselves online now than ever previously possible, but we choose not to. Instead, we curate. Online I can be more of a highlight reel than my actual self. And that is great since who wouldn’t want to be seen as the best version of themselves. I’m different at school, I’m different at home and I’m different on the Internet. I happen to speak a few different languages and I feel like I am a different person in each and every one of them. Online identity can no longer be regarded as a separate construction, in antithesis with offline identity, but as an integral part of the individual’s identity system, being influenced by and at the same time influencing the whole (Frunzaru & Garbasevchi 2016, p. 4).
My online identities for both Instagram and Twitter are quite similar yet very different. I believe most people are on social media just because of peer pressure and fear of missing out. But rather I feel that social media has the power and potential that can help me achieve my goals more efficiently as it provides me with an opportunity to present my best professional self across my potential employers. Information available online about an individual, whether of a personal or professional nature, and whether posted by the individual or the individual’s contacts, is often subject to review as part of hiring processes (Frunzaru & Garbasevchi 2016, p. 6). As such, online identity is seen as the expected response of individuals that are exposed to a highly promotional environment which views self-identity as a valuable commodity – both a product of labor and of market exchange (Frunzaru & Garbasevchi 2016, p. 3). Knowing what is there and curating it into something that speaks well about you is critical. My Instagram account is more of a personalized space where I connect with my friends and peers by trying to remain socially active as it helps me express my emotional self. My online identity at Instagram goes in a cheerful and happy-go-lucky fashion.
On the other hand, Twitter is like the cocktail party on the internet (Vaynerchuk 2015). When stuff is happening in the world, Twitter is where I go. It is where I show the more opinionated and strong sided personality of myself. It brings out my identity as an outspoken individual with a strong point of view who tries to engage in conversation of recent social matters and trending topics. You can have a look at some of my recenttweetshere. Unlike Instagram, Twitter is more like a semi-professional platform that I feel could help me foster my career.
In both my online and offline selves, there are core personality traits that I use to label myself and this impacts the holistic construction of all my identities. My every online identity constitutes an equal part of my offline self. My different social media accounts reflect my different personality traits which helps me to reach a wider set of audience. The way I structure my online persona is very essential because it is a window to my future career. It would not be wrong to say that well-maintained online identity can greatly influence the minds of potential employers.
By Raghav Khanna
I’ve continued to embrace social media but along with that, I’ve realized that there will always be a difference between my online and offline selves. I’ve learned that relying on social media likes and views for happiness is just stupidity since most people try to present a version of themselves which is totally fake. Happiness has to come from real life. Being authentic is what I follow and consider the most important thing to maintain my online identity because it is what sets me apart from others. As important as an online identity is, the two must be kept healthily balanced. For once the balance is off, we lose ourselves in a world that is not real. People need to realize that behind all of the highlight reel, they need to be authentic and true to themselves because one way or the other, we’re all exquisitely imperfect. Remember this to be one step closer to being a better human being.
How many times a day do you think you’re caught on camera? Find out how many cameras are actually watching us every day!
Surveillance – New Ways of Watching by Raghav Khanna
In my video, I chose to explore the topic of surveillance and the new ways in which we are being watched today. The main focal points I wanted to target within the video included how are we being watched and what the future for surveillance looks like. I decided to make this video is more of a documentary style, to make it more appealing to the audience. This ensured that they don’t get bored by just watching me talk for three minutes. As I stated in the video, I wasn’t particularly on the lookout for security cameras, but I still managed to find roughly 8 of them. This highlights the idea of the video on how many cameras track our actions throughout the day. I tried to keep the footage casual yet professional.
Planning this video was a bit of a struggle for me. I knew I wanted to focus the video on surveillance as I find it fascinating. However, it was a task to come up with an intriguing point of view with such an open topic. I began planning my video by writing down a few ideas which I wanted to focus on. Then I took inspiration from the study notes as a part of the tutorials and determined what data and content I wanted to include in the video. Prior to scripting, I conducted a Creative Commons (CC) search that would inform my ‘real-life’ examples of surveillance. When story-boarding, I collected resources available as well as footage necessary to capture. However, due to excessive content, I had to narrow it down as the video could only be a maximum of three minutes.
The content was then paired with a clear voice-over narration that asked viewers to ‘imagine.’ I ensured voice-over was refined by the removal of deep breathes, and disturbances. A thrilling and mysterious soundtrack was selected to evoke a sense of excitement and pique the viewer’s interest. The use of background music added another dimension to the video. I also found it essential to align image transition with the voice-over. I made sure to speak clearly with varied expressions and tonality in my voice. I think this helped enhance audience engagement, as it provides the viewer with a greater sense of progression whilst watching the video. Learning how to edit overlays and input text on the screen was also a learning curve, and I found that YouTube provided adequate help when learning to do so. When choosing the creative commons source material, I decided to go with those images that were visually interesting, to keep the context of my video solely focused around surveillance. I have included some headings, credits, and transitions between clips to create a smoother and more rounded video. Most of the images and video clips came from Pixarbay.
In creating a successful video strategy, I encountered various obstacles. Choosing the topic was challenging in itself because of the scope and the strict time limit. I found it difficult to search for images and videos that can be used as there are not many options available. Initially, I struggled to put enough information together to talk about in the video. However, by the end of it, I had the opposite problem, as there was far too much content. Studying the topic, drafting the information, working out what images and clips to include, editing it was all very time-consuming.
Now being a creator myself, I learned how important it is to understand the topic of Copyright and why it is crucial to respect other creators’ work. I discovered how to use overlays in my video to make it look aesthetic and organised. Making this video also gave me a chance to take all the advice on the challenges I faced whilst making my first introduction video.
VIDEO CREDITS
A Desktop Computer with Illuminated Keyboard (CC0)
Raghav's Blog 