Blog 10: Video Vortex

Codecs

Youtube has definitely played a major role in the popularization in use of the codec/file extension .flv (flash video). The codec is widely used because it is a very compact one that is easily decompressed (not so much recoded easily), and also the container of the file is read easily by flash enabled browsers and does not require a download to play. Together these reasons have contributed to .flv prevalence across the internet media channels. In addition, the article goes into discussion regarding the need for the internet to have standardized protocols. He explains that many of the formats of media online are not great, but "good enough." Also the fact that the compression of .flv videos severely reducing viewing experience is debated as much of what is loss cannot be picked up by the standard human eye.

Conceptual Power of On-Line Video

This essay is formatted as five smaller ones, each detailing different points. We are obsessed with narratives and media show that narratives are becoming more complex and try to connect with larger audiences than ever before. With online media such a YouTube, there is no more "boundary" that separates who are allowed to contribute content to the public sphere, now anyones opinion can get anywhere (easier). Additionally, it is the falling cost of creating content that allows anyone's opinion to be made into a compact, transferable, and viewable media. Once enough media is generated, repositories such as YouTube serve as a great library of information that is accessed for a multitude of reasons. Web 2.0 allows mankind a new source of information; each other.

Contrast

Both articles do a great job of explaining evolved aspects of YouTube, be it the way that they share things or the sheer volume of what is shared. The earlier one did a better job of explaining why it is that YouTube is so successful on their part as the later explains that it is the users who generate the content who enrich YouTube and strengthen it.

Blog 4: Visiting Artist Darrin Martin

Wallace Stevens explains in his article, “Art, Entertainment, Entropy,” that media such as television uses dramatic elements and emotional responses to include a message possible unrelated to the narrative or content. He heavily attacks the concept of genre as the single most limiting system of classification by creating expectations of content that cannot normally be broken. He explains these concepts of his in terms of science, which are very comforting to me as a analytical scientist. His explanation of feedback loops are especially applicable to the internet phenomenon, youtube. Youtube is a case example of work creating more work as when one searches something; one will find many, if not hundreds, of the same video done by different parties. Although youtube’s genre system is not the same as film genre breakdowns, I can summarize the classification system as music videos, video blogs, candid capture, informative, and mashup. Each of these videos if inspirational enough, create an onslaught of works that only parody them. Youtube’s response video feature makes this loop very evident. Twitter and Facebook both are good examples of Steven’s give and take model represented by the laws of thermodynamics. When one posts or messages something, it almost always elicits a response of sorts. This level of causation only emphasizes that everyone has an opinion. Media such as television exploits our desire to speak out and presents imagery or situations that subliminally sell us something in return.