2. Stages of Creative Production
In chapter 7 of Hanging Out, Messing Around,
and Geeking Out Patricia C. Lange and Mizuko
Ito describe five different stages of creative
production through social media:
● Production
● Collaboration
● Gaining Audience
● Feedback
● Goals and Aspirations
3. The Creative Products
To illustrate the stages of production we will
focus on these four types of projects created
by social media users:
● Videos
● AMVs
● Fansubs
● Myspace profiles
4. Production
● Youth creators are limited in their access to
production equipment and software. They are
gravitating towards methods of production on
social media because of its wide availability.
● The practice of creating online typically leads
to a blend of consuming media and producing
it by remixing already existing forms of videos,
images, literature, and web designs.
● Does this technique constitute as creative
production? Or a manipulation of someone
else's work?
5. Production-Videos
● Many videos produced for social media
distribution are candids or personal, using
the Internet as a digital scrapbook.
● Lola and Ashley are video creators that host
a regular talk show focusing on reality
television shows.
● Using the tools available, Lola and Ashley
are able to host this show with little
technological and production knowledge.
● Their show focuses on pre-existing
television shows to create a discussion.
6. Production-AMVs
● AMVs (anime music videos) are a montage
of anime footage strung together and put to
music to typically create a narrative.
● This process relies heavily on footage that
is already created for the producer to
create a project to call their own.
● Many AMV creators are self taught by
exploring the tools that are available to
them instead of having formal video
education.
7. Production-Fansubs
● Fansubbing is
the practice of
translating
Japanese anime
films and
television shows
and then adding
subtitles.
● Fansubbers typically work in groups to
create fansubs from preexisting anime
videos.
8. Production-Myspace Profiles
● Although a Myspace profile is intended to be a
reflection of the user, it relies heavily on
images and HTML code borrowed from other
websites and users. Dan Perkel has coined this
as "copy and paste" literacy. (256)
● Lange and Ito summarize the melding of
producing and consuming Myspace profiles
describing "profile creation [as] a casual
activity in defining a personal webpage and
graphic identity, pieced together with found
materials on the Internet." (261)
9. Collaboration-Videos
● In professional settings, video production is
usually a collaborative effort consisting of
members specializing in videography, sound
recording, post-production editing, etc.
● Through social media, video creators can
collaborate digitally rather than in the same
setting.
● "Collab" videos are when video makers lend
footage or actors to each other to create new
videos. This practice is a way to allude to
other works to gain an already existing
audience.
10. Collaboration-AMVs
● Since AMVs rely on pre-produced video
material, the artist can be considered to be
collaborating with the producers with the
footage and music.
11. Collaboration-Fansubs
● Because fansubbing is such a specific form
of creation, it attracts a niche of creators.
● Fansub groups typically consists of a "raw
provider", a translator, a timer, an editor,
an encoder, a typesetter, and several
quality checkers.
● These groups usually have trial periods and
formal tests when admitting new members.
● Can you think of any other exclusive hobby
groups, digital or not, that administer tests
and trial periods?
12. Collaboration-Fansubs
● All these hoops assure the group that they
will be working with someone who strives
for the same level of quality and can easily
collaborate with everyone in the group.
● After a fansubber becomes skilled in their
department of expertise, they will usually
be invited to collaborate with other
fansubbing groups.
13. Gaining Audience-Videos
● A common way to share videos among other
users is the website Youtube.
● Youtube allows users to link or embed their
work wherever they feel on the Internet. If
a creator only wants to share their work
with a certain group, settings can be
adjusted accordingly.
● View counts are tracked on Youtube but can
easily be manipulated and are considered
unreliable.
14. Gaining Audience-Videos
● A more reliable metric used on Youtube is
subscriptions, where a user is notified when
a creator posts a video. Some creators
practice "sub-for-sub" where creators will
mutually subscribe to each other to
maximize sharing and feedback.
● Other ways videos are promoted are shout
outs from other creators and collaborating
with others.
15. Gaining Audience-AMVs
● Gepetto, an AMV editor, was first diving
into the world of video mixing when he was
asked to teach a video workshop in his high
school. Although he was considered an
amateur in the AMV community, his skills
were recognized highly outside of it.
● Anime conventions serve as a physical space
to showcase work instead of digital. These
conventions host competitions where
winning AMVs are shown in a theater to a
large audience.
16. Gaining Audience-Fansubs
● It is common in the fansubbing community
to focus primarily on quality instead of
audience size.
● When fansubbers do track numbers, they
make it visible for all viewers to see.
17. Feedback-Videos
● As a main source of video sharing, Youtube
provides a rating system along comment posts
and messaging.
● Any user is allowed to post comments on public
videos whether negative or positive. Creators
usually refrain from deleting negative
comments to show support for online freedom
of speech.
● Users are not always educated or
knowledgeable of video production and
therefore do not always provide helpful
feedback either.
18. Feedback-AMVs
● While Youtube helps broadcast videos and their
makers to a wide audience, AMV creators
choose to showcase their work to a more
specific audience in hopes of acquiring
constructive feedback and knowledgeable and
fair ratings.
● Animemusicvideos.org supplies templates for
writing reviews, rating systems, top video lists,
and discussion boards.
● AMV creators support each other through a
system of mutual feedback: the more you give,
the more you'll get.
19. Feedback-Fansubs
● Fansubbers attend anime conventions to
discuss and compare their work.
● Because fansubbing requires a lot of
specific knowledge, the most informed
feedback comes from other fansubbers.
● Fellow fansubbers are also already aware of
the creative standards that are shared in
the fansubbing community.
● For these reasons, fansubbers typically only
look to fellow fansubbers for constructive
criticism.
20. Goals and Aspirations
● In the cases of fansubbers and AMV creators, there are
not many who strive to have a career in their field.
Fansubbing and AMV work generally do not have a place
in the commercial market and the art is usually treated
as a hobby which they can always improve upon.
● Some young video creators do have the dream of
working in a career with video. Although they have no
specific job aspiration, they work hard to one day work
in the field that they love.
Users like Ashley use their present videos to create a
portfolio on social media, hoping to showcase it to
prospective colleges and employers.
