The Infinity Project Episode 3
The Infinity Project’s final episode can be seen now at iknowcomo.com and my Vimeo page. It’s been an absolute blast working with such talented and funny individuals, and I hope this project helps at least one of us into something legitimate in the future. I learned a lot about comedy, production, and managing a team over the semester, and I’m quite proud of how far we came—literally from nothing at all.
Episode 3 pushes the boundaries a little bit. We wanted to see how different elements played out: obscenity, jokes about murder, and my favorite, the Tiger Woods joke. As an experiment to see what works and what doesn’t, I felt it was important for us to explore the realm of irreverent content to see what we could get away with. In the end, I feel our most successful and best collection of writing came in our second episode, but I’m extremely pleased with the production quality of the third.
Goals for Winter Break
1. Relax – I think I deserve this one. Skiing is a definite must.
2. New website. I want to redesign this site to be more of a reflection of my resume and sell myself a little better.
3. Learn AfterEffects. So much cool stuff to do with that program.
4.
The Americans, by Robert Frank
One of the most influential photographers of the 1950s, Robert Frank, is the subject of a project I did for my History of Photojournalism course. I think it turned out pretty neat. I wrote, recorded, and edited all of the audio, then used my new favorite site — animoto.com — to put the video together.
What I’ve Learned from the Infinity Project
Over the past week or so, I’ve been thinking more about how my experience producing this local mock news cast could potentially influence my future career plans. I’ve always considered myself to have a pretty good sense of humor, and I’m finding that I can keep pace with some of our comedians. If my jokes aren’t spot-on, the premise is there. It makes me think I might find success on the level of the Daily Show or the Colbert Report. Of course, it would be nearly impossible for me to arrive at either show without some serious producing abilities, but perhaps it’s something I can train my sights on later in life.
After talking with Ryan Beck, the host of the Infinity Project and a former intern of the Daily Show, he agreed. Getting in the door at either show is a matter of knowing the right people and being in the right place at the right time. For now, it’s on my radar and I’ll be keeping a vigilant eye out for any opportunities in that direction. I’m not sure where to start, but one thing I will be doing next semester is helping out with a skit show on the local access channel. You’ve got to begin somewhere, right!?
Infinity Project – Update
We’ve worked out a partnership with iknowcomo.com, another project from the Convergence Journalism 4992 Capstone course at Mizzou. Now folks can find our parody news videos alongside helpful advice for nightlife and entertainment in Columbia, Missouri!
You can find a link to our video here.
Convergence Journalism class update
Over the last two weeks, we’ve been working hard with our writing team on a new script, one that we’ll hopefully have filmed and edited in time to present next week (though with Mizzou’s homecoming events looming this week I’m weary of making that deadline).
As we enter the second half of the semester, I think it’s time we start exploring possibilities for the distribution of our show. Our first goal of the project was to explore whether it was even possible to produce a short-form comedy news show, and I think with just one show finished, we can say yes. It’s certainly a very delicate yes, however, as we’ll have to find a way to sustain the show. Producing at regular intervals is made difficult by student schedules and relying upon comedy writers who really have no stake in the show.
I’m supposed to meet with KOMU’s Jen Reeves for a casual meeting later this week, perhaps with her I’ll brainstorm some ideas for distribution. I’m hoping there’s a space within the new KOMU iPhone app for us somewhere, and some space under the KOMU umbrella. If not, there are some other outlets I think we can piggyback (looking at you iknowcomo.com).
I’ll keep you updated!
From humble beginnings
If you’ve followed my blog at all, you’ll have seen my updates on the project I’m working on for the final course in my journalism sequence. We’re working on creating a parody news show for our small city of Columbia; an experiment in whether the Daily Show could ever translate to small-town news.
We gathered a team of comedy writers in the form of young local comedians and set out to present our own humorous take on things happening in Mid-Missouri. Like any experimental prototype, ours was not without stumbles and sputters with malfunctioning equipment, busy schedules, and uncooperative interviews. However, the episode we’re going to show our class today is something I’m proud of.
This post features the first episode we presented to the class. It has plenty of faults: bad camera work, talent unaccustomed to appearing in front of a camera, and “janky” editing. But where this episode shines is its writing. Our writers are taking this project head-on, with no real reason to help us than out of the goodness of their hearts. Sure, they’ll take home a clip or two that they can add to their comedic epitome, but for the most part they’re doing this to help us out. In my opinion, they hit the first episode on the head with where I’d like the jokes to land.
So you’ve got an iPhone App, now what?
Congratulations! You’ve entered the world of mobile media and (hopefully) rolled out an amazing new way for consumers to interact with your company. You’ve got an app on one of the world’s most popular smartphones, and certainly one that’s driven vast mobile media innovation in the past two years. However, at best, you’re reaching slightly less than 50% of the smartphone traffic market.
Sure, BlackBerrys abound, and they’re even given away seemingly every other week during different promotional sales. However, it’s not the numbers of sales that are important. You’ve got to look at mobile traffic; that indicator that phone users are paying for an always-connected smartphone with internet browsing capabilities. Luckily, AdMob, the iPhone’s premiere service for in-app advertising, offers helpful metrics for measuring and determining just how people use their smartphones.
Not surprisingly, the iPhone dominates the market with half of all mobile internet traffic. But you knew that—that’s why you developed an app in the first place!
BlackBerry vs. Android vs. WebOS
If you’re not of a budget that will allow you to pay a developer to create applications across each of the major operating systems at the same time, you’ll have to choose a priority. My suggestion: go Android. Over the past three months, Admob has shown a steady increase in traffic share for Android-based phones in the US. Currently, Google has announced that it anticipates another dozen (in addition to the current three) phones running on Android in coming months.
Next to BlackBerry, that’s huge. Right now, there are only two BlackBerry devices that can be considered fair competition to Android and iPhone: the Curve and the Storm. Both debuted more than 6 months ago, and neither has revolutionized the way we use mobile internet. There are also no announcements about new phones—who’s to know when the next iterations will come.
The Palm Pre debuted to major critical acclaim, but sales numbers never really left the ground. While the phone ranks in the top five handsets for traffic, it’s still the only device running Palm’s WebOS. While surveys of consumers have shown that people hold the Pre in higher regard than existing Android and BlackBerry devices, it still probably won’t pay off to invest in development of a WebOS app—at this point at least.
UPDATE: Flash on mobile devices
Then again, recent announcements may change the way all mobile development unfolds across platforms. Adobe announces Flash will be coming to smartphones, including immediate rollouts to Windows Media, WebOS, public beta early next year for Android, and an undisclosed debut date for BlackBerry.
Whether or not this changes your strategy depends on what you’re trying to deliver. For a client of mine who delivers video content, it makes sense for them to continue to develop apps that are specifically designed for mobile devices. They run better and faster on a mobile device than a flash site ever will. But, like all things, you’ll still pay a price for a customized experience.
by | tonybrown 