Franki Abraham - Exercise 4

My Clock

Franki Abraham - Reading Response 2

Henry Jenkins' "Convergence Culture; Worship at the Alter of Convergence: A New Paradigm for Understanding Media Change” is 1) a mouthful and 2) the reason I began to reflect on active consumerism vs. passive consumerism in the context of our class material and social media in general.

Now, due to the inherit nature of media itself, we are consumers, perhaps not the kind that purchase a television from a certain company or choose which milk is advertised to have the most calcium but never the less we are mass consumers of information due to the internet and it’s many avenues. This is means that certain people fall beneath one of two categories: the passive and the active.

A passive media consumer is merely an absorber. They may watch an informative YouTube clip, a live stream speech, read a blog post, or an article, etc. etc., but then they remain static. They absorb the information and the go on their merry way without reflection, discussion or reaction. If they had any opinion on the material they were just presented, they make no effort to spread the word and keep it to themselves. According to Jenkins, this is how most people used to behave toward online media, but now the dam has been broken.

Example: Passive Consumer

Consumers are becoming more “noisy” or in more specific terms they are becoming more active. Instead of letting the video, blog, or article go unnoticed, these consumers spread the word and spread it loud. They discuss, share, link, post the things they value all over their social outlets and twitter feeds, for everyone to see and explore as well. This allows information to spread faster, more effectively and gain momentum. They become the new networking system for the producers of the information and content.

Example: Active Consumer

The constant progression of technology is also encouraging this new culture and Jenkins states “consumers are fighting for the right to participate more fully in their culture.” Rather than a few years ago, now almost all consumers are attempting to become active.

We need these active participants to move forward into a more involved Internet culture and we are already steadily making our way there. Memes, .GIFs, YouTube skits, blogs, these are all are user generated and user spread content that is the definition of Jenkins’s active consumers. The age of passiveness has (haha) passed and companies are reacting as just. They also must reevaluate and reconstruct their product to appease these lively beings instead of resist and retreat back into their old fashioned ways.

Exercise 1.2.3 - Franki Abraham

New and Improved Webpage

In this edit...

• I centered and expanded the size of the .GIFs to give it a more cinematic and engaging feel.
• I also centered and gave the heading text a new font to tie it in with the .theme the GIFs had themselves. 
• I gave the page the addition of my own name (so proud).
• I bolded and italicized words of importance within the body of the text.

And...

• I managed to get the first .GIF ("iAm.gif") to continue it's loop after the first sequence.

Exercise 1.2.2 - Franki Abraham

Exercise 1.2.2 - Franki Abraham

Exercise 1.2.1 - Franki Abraham

Reading Response 1 - Franki Abraham

In Sally Mackay's article The Affect of the Animated GIFs, she argues (and counter argues) the .GIFs cannot truly be considered “art” because more often than not, the “artist” is not intending to produce a work of art when creating a .GIF. (But then she makes some odd counter argument stating that “there are those who produce spectacles that demand attention, and those who quietly go about their work hoping for a reflective viewer who will take some time to engage”, making it seem that she is also in favor of animated .GIFs and the quiet artists that compose them… but I digress).

I disagree that .GIFs are not truly art. But I do agree that it does not take an artist to create one. .GIFs, I now see, are relatively easy creatures to tame, with or without the “proper” materials, however, that does not mean that they aren’t part of a very large pop cultural and artistic shift going on on the internet. .GIFs are like the new picture flipbooks that were produced in the 1880s. One could flip through the little pad and see a scene from a movie, but that did not mean it was the movie, nor was it not artist to embody the scene within the pad. Each .GIF created is intended to send a message to the public about some issue, event or opinion that someone has. Is that not art in and of itself?

These “common” everyday people are expressing themselves through a new medium that they feel comfortable using and it is creating a new generation of technology savvy artists, whether they are aware of it or not.

Exercise 1.1 - Franki Abraham

The narrative of my cinematic mini .gif is paying tribute to the Classic children's movie "Mary Poppins". It declares the central message of the movie (Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious) and rapidly shows stills from the movie itself behind the text.

I feel the narrative of the movie is summarized briefly through the .gif and the honoring of another work of art and cinema is accomplished. By rekindling the nostalgic and whimsical nature of the movie through the quick and bright nature of the .gif, it is almost as if you are re-watching the film in your head. Art cannot move forward unless it looks back and nostalgic .gifs are my favorite kind of .gif. the ones that make you reflect on a time in your life and remember.

Exercise 0 - Franki Abraham

Reason: The above .gif is an example of how movement in an image can be more impactful than a static frame or captured moment. Every frame in this .gif is striking and visually moving, but because of the fluidity between moments it creates a more beautiful and intense tone for the content displayed. The plate shatters over and over again and after each new break, more and more of the process is revealed, engaging the viewer and adding a deeper understanding of the content and uncommon beauty found in an uncommon place. Due to the repetitious nature of a .gif, a message or idea can be enforced quickly and resolutely into the viewers mind. While this particular gif. isn't dealing with a belief or value of character, I believe it adds artistic value to an otherwise simple image.

Reason: I also chose this .gif for similar reasons. The subtle movement of the married couple has the ability to convey a message that a static image could not accomplish alone. They are seemingly unconcerned with anyone else in the room and simply enjoying one another and the fact that they are now husband and wife. This conveys strong messages of love, devotion and happiness through the very slight wavering of their bodies back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and...