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Ivan Petkov
 
Recently, I have presented two articles to you: the first was related to documentary filmmaking and the second presented one of the most popular programs for postproduction, namely Final Cut. In the first article, I said that it is getting easier for each person to become a source of documentary content. Today, we will review two applications for mobile phones which have millions of users and turn video making into an extremely easy and accessible task because they require no additional investment in a camera or processing software and are extremely easy to use. These are Instagram and Vine. Instagram is the more popular of the two but Vine is rapidly gaining fans and has driven the development of video functionality by Instagram. I admit that I am a nonprofessional in the field and that I have always thought that these kind of applications are used to shoot cute babies, delicious dishes, exotic trips and legendary parties. There is nothing wrong with that, of course. The boom of social networks shows that a 'star' lives in each of us who is in need of attention and who wants to share his or her pieces of everyday reality with the rest of the world. Social instinct and sense of normalcy – we will not dissect this need but will directly turn to the review of the two applications.

Vine

I am beginning with Vine which, like the creeping vine, connects its rapidly growing army of loyal followers. The application definitely gives delicious fruit as well. Vine is a brand new fresh application.

Instagram

Instagram is a veteran with two years of experience but in the other big category, which is photography. It was equipped with a video functionality just a week ago. I cannot fail to point out that Facebook has acquired the company for the unprecedented high cash amount of $ 1 billion because of the 100 million users of the application.

VS-statistics

Working with Vine

 

Vine welcomes you with a beautiful looking video of a drifting balloon. I do not know whether the joke is deliberate but the rival Instagram uses an image of a balloon to show the available filters. You can register by mail or use your Twitter account. I used my Twitter account and the first things I saw in the application were the latest videos. A bright button appeared later inviting me to find users whose videos I could follow – the invariable social element. I hastened to open the tab containing the video recording function in order to get into the role of a producer, director and animator. Before that I had watched dozens of videos presenting the best and most interesting of Vine. I was impressed by the stop motion animation and I thought of a scenario. The button to shoot my 6-second "mega"-production was in the upper right corner. I was a little surprised when I came across an unexpectedly Spartan screen on which I should work. The only thing I could think of was to touch the screen and "Oh! My" – I started shooting. By keeping your finger on the screen, you determine how long the application will shoot. Ascetic and simple as long as it occurs to you. Vine’s developers rely on the established touch-habits of the audience. Like a friend of mine, a fierce opponent of smartphones, says "let’s speak on the screen". :-P

Below you can see what I have created in no time, after numerous trials and errors. It is definitely not easy to make animation but after a short habituation, results improve and I feel satisfied. And most importantly, I am having fun.

The media-shark

Idea and script: a traditional media-shark is chasing another victim to “swallow” it up (media market consolidation). The small traditional media fish is trying to escape and resist but it is caught and assimilated eventually. The media-shark is swimming undisturbed, standing on top of the media food chain until it is faced with an unexpected and terrifying intruder – the kraken of new media. In the end, it is caught and assimilated too. Conclusion: "There's always a bigger fish!"

PS No real traditional media fish or media shark was killed while shooting this video. The assimilation of traditional media by the kraken of new media continues with full force, for good or bad.