Tag: new media

What Can People Do to Change Things? How Can I Help Women in TV and Film?

by Briana M. Andrews, posted in Women In TV & Film

This is a very important question.  One that doesn’t have a straightforward answer.  It’s easy to slap together statistics to paint the dire picture of what is transpiring with women in the television and film industries.  However, generating a solution or corrective action plan isn’t quite so simple.  With the creation of Women in TV and Film, I was extremely cautious not to make this a finger-pointing, blame-game or pity-party because no one is rolling out the red carpet for us to access the boys club.  I wanted to highlight positive attributes and micro-level methods to evoke change that both you and I can implement NOW.  In the introductory stages of conceptualizing the project, I asked myself two fundamental questions:

  • What can I do to help?
  • How can I build awareness and change perception?

I don’t have money.  My career is still in infancy stages.  I don’t have the power to create macro-level change.

Do I delve into why things are the way they are, or do I paint a picture that visualizes HOW IT COULD BE?  I chose the latter.

My approach with this project was to:

  • Actively work in a filmmaker capacity
  • Work alongside other women in TV and Film
  • Showcase various women in TV and film through my social media and web platforms
  • Document the innerworkings of film sets with exclusively female cast and crews
  • Attend events, conferences and screenings that support female filmmakers
  • Network and build relationships with experienced women actively working in the industry
  • Develop a rolodex (contact list) of women that can fulfil various above and below-the-line roles for future usage, reference and recommendation
  • Show the world WOMEN MAKE MOVIES and WE ARE BADASS

Now, it’s YOUR TURN.

Companies:  You should HIRE female filmmakers.

Filmmakers: You should recommend female filmmakers and take steps to ensure you have an inclusive work environment.

Consumers: You should support, watch and buy diverse and inclusive projects.

We can talk about corporate big-wigs but the reality of the matter is CONSUMERS HOLD THE POWER.  When you buy food, you read the label.  Similarly, when watching shows and films … you should research the credits.  You should know about the content you are consuming.  Female filmmakers know about the problems that exist, however, a large chunk of the TV-watching and movie-going population are completely oblivious.  The program you love:

  • Did a woman write it?
  • Did a woman direct it?
  • Did a woman edit it?
  • Did a woman shoot it? 
  • How many women were involved in the production? 

The population is 50/50 and women represent roughly half of movie-goers but we have less screen-time and less control of the narrative.  YOU have the power to decide and evoke change.

THANK YOU – College of Communication & Creative Arts Showcase [BTS Photos] – REMINDER: Upcoming NMP Showcase

by Briana M. Andrews, posted in events, New Media Production, Personal

I’d like to provide a special thank you to everyone who visited my workstation May 4th at the CCCA Awards and Showcase.  The event served as awesome primer for the New Media Practicum showcase that will be taking place at Chamberlain Student Center from 10-1 PM on Tuesday May 7th, 2019.  I encourage you to attend; admission is free and open to the general public.  You will have the opportunity to see the Women in TV and Film new media project and mini-documentary showcasing my activities over the course of the semester. 

Here are a few images shared on social media during the event:

  • Briana M. Andrews poses with production book and artifacts from the Women in TV and Film project at the Rowan University CCCA Awards and Showcase
  • Instructor for New Media Practicum, Professor Rachael Shapiro and Dr. Sanford Tweedie, Dean of Rowan University’s College of Communications and Creative Arts discussing Optik Topic on May 4, 2019

This subject is near and dear to my heart and the project demonstrates micro-level steps we can take as a community to ensure there is more diversity, inclusivity and representation in storytelling.  The feedback was overwhelming positive and the energy was lively during the event. The CCCA Showcase was particularly memorable for me since it was one of the few times during my undergraduate career where I experienced all majors from CCCA (biomedical art, public relations and advertising, journalism, communication studies etc.) under the same roof displaying their body of work.  If you missed it, you missed out – however, I’d love to see you on Tuesday at NMP.

Tomorrow, I will post an article on WomeninTVandFilm.com outlining things that filmmakers, businesses and consumers / viewers can do to support women in this profession. Stay tuned.

Boomerang Social Media Post, Originally Posted on Instagram During CCCA Event

VROOOM – Time and Distance. How Much Did You Have to Travel to Pull Off the Women in TV and Film Project?

by Briana M. Andrews, posted in New Media Production, Women In TV & Film

I am forever thankful for the opportunities that were presented over the course of this semester and took advantage of as many as I could.  I had to travel quite a bit and put a considerable amount of mileage on my car traveling back and forth between Manhattan and Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ (where I reside during the academic year).  My residence is in Northern NJ, relatively close to New York City.  My family … grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins are all in New York.  I luck out in a sense where there was always a local place to crash when I head into the city, but I also had classes and campus activities, so it was never long before I had to drive back to school.

Not-so-fun Facts: The Verrazano Bridge is $19.  There is an EZ-Pass toll discount, however it only applies to NY pass holders and the deep(er) discount is only for Staten Island Residents.  The Port Authority tolls (Goethals Bridge, Lincoln or Holland Tunnel) are $12.50 with the discount.  The NJ Turnpike Tolls vary anywhere between $5 and $11.  A typical trip from Rowan University (exit 3) to Lower Manhattan (exit 14C) can run about $11.  I took the train to Astoria, $17 round-trip on New Jersey Transit plus another $5.50 on the MetroCard for the MTA.

Location Details:

  • To Each Her Throne was shot in TriBeCa, NY
  • Daughters of Solanas was shot in Staten Island, NY (main shoot site and on-location cemetery site)
  • Women’s Weekend Film Challenge Pre-Production was in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
  • Screening of Daughters of Solanas at the Museum of Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, NY
  • Girl Power Film and Media Summit was in Dumbo, Brooklyn, NY

Women In TV & Film – New Media Practicum Proposal [Submitted]

by Briana M. Andrews, posted in Assignments, Women In TV & Film

We need film more than ever!  Film connects people through the art of storytelling.  Much of what we see in film has roots in our backgrounds, upbringing, demographic area, socioeconomic status, cultural norms and gender.  The film industry cannot be a monolithic arena and expect to be relevant with diverse communities.  Film has to serve our communities, and reflect it.  For my New Media Practicum project, I will create a forum for diversity and inclusion in film.  Read my full submitted proposal here, and view the associated presentation here.

There is value in each of our experiences; women need to find our own voices, control the narrative and take ownership of our portrayal in film.

Unity3D, Semester Reflection – RTF 03394 – New Media Production

by Briana M. Andrews, posted in Personal

Over the past few weeks, I looked into the various ways Unity3D has been used in the industry.  One of the things I found most appealing and interesting about the possibilities and uses of this platform is mobile technology.  Unity3D accounts for 50% of mobile games.

Check out this clip of my first rodeo in Unity.  This game is unpublished, still a work in progress and I’m still learning how to use the game engine.  I call this game “Runna Boy.”  Eventually, I’ll work on developing an infinite runner game (think Subway Surfers and Temple Run).  This New Media Production course was great overall, because in addition to working my usual Adobe Apps (Premiere Pro,PhotoShop), I was able to delve into Fuse, Mixamo, Unity and work in HTML tocreate an interactive narrative.

DRAFT – Runna Boy Subway Jamal Unity 3D Game – Unpublished

by Briana M. Andrews, posted in Assignments, New Media Production

Please note, the game “Runna Boy Jamal Subway” is no longer being submitted as my final project.  Rather, this is a display of my progress in creating the game.  This process is very time consuming and I couldn’t complete within the time confines of the semester.  My final, an interactive HTML narrative created on Wix along with partner, Chris Rivera is here.

This video shows me playing the game on the backend.  Initially, I thought I’d be able to use a standalone player or export for play and publishing through Google Drive or DropBox.  However, I recently learned they discontinued that functionality.  I registered for an account on Wooglie, a Unity 3D game portal.  However, you have to complete a process of being accepted as a developer before you can publish.  Ultimately, the semester is ending and I am running out of time to complete the Unity game.  You won’t be able to see it in final form, but through this screen grab video, you can see my progress.

 

 

Final Project – Reflection & Conclusion

by Briana M. Andrews, posted in Assignments, New Media Production

Working on the final project was a tremendous learning experience.  Ultimately, I wasn’t able to get the Unity game to my satisfaction (good thing I had a contingency plan).  I am not sure how to post the game because DropBox no longer lets users render HTML content.  I would like to share so my peers can view my progress and provide feedback, however, I feel like it is somewhat glitchy as a standalone export.  I worked on this roughly 2 weeks and worked solo on it.   With additional time I can make a solid mobile game using the Unity engine.

I worked on an Interactive HTML Narrative with partner Chris Rivera and we developed “Last Call.”  The most important factor was ensuring functionality, appropriate images, and a story line that is easy to follow, and relatable to our target audience.  In this HTML story, the user makes selections to help the character Ariel Combs get to class on time.  It was hard figuring out what things did at first, but once I got in the pattern and learned how to navigate using the Wix platform, it was easy and straight-forward.

Final Project – Progress & Challenges

by Briana M. Andrews, posted in Assignments, New Media Production

I am going through the process of creating the road, environment and character.  The final product should have one button play to start.  I am trying to develop a basic game.  I am still toying with ideas for a name.

This process is actually harder than I thought.  It’s very time consuming and challenging, especially in a time crunch.  Some developers work on projects for months, even years before publishing.  I have been reading articles, watching videos and spending hours trying to configure what will ultimately be a quite basic game.  I will figure out how to publish on a website, since I won’t be able to display a mobile interface to the class.

Unity 3D: Final Project Proposal & Game Idea

by Briana M. Andrews, posted in Assignments

I started to develop a game in Unity 3D.  I wasn’t familiar with the game development engine prior to doing research for this class, but I was astonished to learn about half of the existing mobile games were developed using this platform.  I’ll admit I am still toying with the idea of doing a narrative, and possibly even finding a partner. However, as of right now … I am moving forward solo with my game idea.

I will have a lot of work over the next couple weeks familiarizing myself with the interface and developing a functional game.  I am working on creating am arcade-type, endless racing (or infinite runner) game.  This will feature simple gameplay and one motive: to keep going.  I’d like to make it colorful and fun.  I am still trying to figure out to how implement a character and so forth. There are several apps that are comparable, such as Minion Rush, Temple Run and Subway Surfers.  Nonetheless, I am looking forward to gaining proficiency in this platform and can imagine loads of future uses.

Project Snapshot:

  • Working Solo
  • Using Unity
  • Infinite Runner model
  • Building visual design elements in Photoshop

Feel free to share insight with how you feel about my idea.  I am reading through peer blogs and can see quite a few interesting proposals.  Best of luck to you all, I am eager to see what you all come up with.