Unit 3 – Awareness of Converging Digital Technology in the Creative Media Sector (1.1 – 4.3)
1.1 Describe the uses of digital technology within the Creative Media sector and the relationships this has created between industries in the sector
There are lots of digital technology that is used in the Creative Media Sector, a few digital technologies are Printers, Laptops, Computers, Tablets and Mobile Phones/Smartphones.
What do each technology mentioned above do and how has it created relationships between industries in the Creative Media Sector?
Printers – This is a simple piece of digital technology which allows documentation from within a screen to be printed out into reality. An example of this is when I print out my work. The documents that I’m printing out were made and created on the computer and using a printer I’m able to send a document to the printer so it can be shown onto paper. This has created relationships between different industries within the Creative Media Sector as you can send over e-mails or documentation to another industry and it can be seen on a piece of paper and not just on the computer with the use of a printer.
Laptops/Computers – This has become an advanced piece of digital technology which can connect to several other pieces of technology such as mobile/smartphones, other computers, printers and many more devices. Many laptops and computers have multi purposes.
- Sending/receiving e-mails,
- Control other devices remotely such as work computers when away from the desk.
- Creating/editing/printing off documents
- Being able to communicate to anyone around the world via the use of a laptop which is a way that many relationships between different .
Mobile Phones/Smartphones – Mobile phones are used to communicate in the form or text message or MMS (Multimedia messaging service).
Over the years this has developed into what people call Smartphones as now they have become an essential piece of technology to communicate and maintain relationships between industries as the more they develop grow, the more superior they have become to laptops/computers and tablets and many other technology.
They are now able to do everything that you could on a laptop from e-mails, video calls, using social media websites and creating documents and sending them via your phone.
Tablets – A tablet is similar to both a laptop and a smart phone as it can do the tasks of a smartphone and laptop but has a bigger screen that a smart phone. The way that a tablet works is identical to a smartphone and also has the same ways of creating and maintaining relationships between different industries and also has a bigger screen and sometimes has better battery life than smart phones so they can communicate for longer.
1.2 Describe key Intellectual Property and copyright issues, related to digital technology and content creation
The key intellectual property and copyright issues are:
Sharing, Piracy, Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement.
Sharing – Sharing property between yourself and others is classed as illegal but there are no restrictions in place to prevent the sharing of property. There are many companies and software that promote the sharing of property such music with Spotify, Films with Netflix and TV Shows, Music and Games with the iTunes.
Piracy – This mostly affects industries such as film and music as piracy is the illegal reproduction and possible distribution of a product which is has not been released by the owners for example: Eminem was releasing a CD in 2002 and was forced to release it earlier than the expected date as people had leaked the album online.
Click here to find out more on the Eminem CD release
Examples of a films being hit by piracy are the latest films Fury and Expendables 3 that have been hit by Piracy in the last year.
Plagiarism – This is an illegal copyright issue which is the stealing, borrowing, copying or duplication of an original idea, there are many types and ways in which a people can plagiarise. A few of the most common ways of plagiarism are:
Copy + Paste (Ctrl C + Ctrl V) –
This is one of the most popular ways to plagiarise especially as it’s computer based. Many people use copy and paste on a daily basis to save time when writing/adding text as you can copy and paste text.
For example:
“This is an example, This is an example, This is an example, This is an example, This is an example, This is an example, “
Image from i9socialmedia.com
Clone / Duplication –
This is when you take someone elses original idea and create a clone/duplicate to replicate how the original is so it can be somewhat identical to the original idea so you can claim the idea for your own.
Examples of clones and duplication are most commonly seen in The Matrix’sand in Star Wars with the Clonetroopers:
Star Wars Clonetrooper Image from: wikia.nocookie.net
Replacing Text –
This form of plagiarism is quite popular and can be done by copying and pasting or writing someone else’s ideas and changing the words to appear as if you have written it.
Copyright Infringement –
This is when you use someone’s idea which is copyright protected without the copyright holders permission. It is illegal to distribute or reproduce any product that is protected under the copyright law and without the consent of the original owner.
There are many websites that abuse the copyright law such as Pirate Bay that has been in the media over the vast amount of users who download and torrent pirated media which goes against both the sharing, piracy copyright issues.
2.1 Explain what is meant by ‘converging technology’
This is when you take two or more types of technology and making them into one. For example if you a computer and mobile phone and converge them (making them meet a certain point) which combines both pieces of technology together to make a superior technology which has both the purposes and uses of a computer and a mobile phone, this makes the converged technology into a smartphone.
Smartphones are able to do daily tasks that computers can do such as Browsing the internet, Have access to and send/receive E-mails, Play videos and music and the main one is being able to communicate with people from anywhere around the world.
2.2 Explain the impact of converging technology on the workforce within a specific Creative Media industry
A Creative Media Industry that I have chosen to talk about is Film and Video as this has been impacted by converging technology, instead of recording with a Camcorder you are able to record with a smartphone, tablet and even modern computers via a webcam.
3.1 Describe the changing expectations of audiences and consumers within a chosen Creative Media industry
For this I have chosen to talk about two industries within the Creative Media industry and these two are the Games Industry and the Film Industry.
Changes in the Game Industry –
The Game Industry expectations have changed dramatically as when the Game Industry started it was nothing but games such as Pong and Tetris and now it has dramatically changed into High Definition and 3D games that play on several different gaming platforms for all different age ranges from young children to elderly people.
This has changed peoples expectations from their audience and consumers as they are continuously asking for improvements and dramatic changes to be made and more games to be made once somebody has completed or reached top level in one game.
Another expectation that has changed is the use of gaming on smartphones and tablets, there has been an increase on the amount of people who play games on their smartphones which leads to develops being asked more by the consumers to bring out new games and new updates with fixes on their games.
Changes in the Film Industry –
The audience and consumers expectations of the film industry has changed just as rapidly as the gaming industry, this is because with new technology coming out people are expecting more crossover with the films they watched in the cinema to be able to watch on their own TVs, Handheld Devices and gaming platforms.
The audiences for the film industry has changed also as most new films are made specifically so it is suitable for both the young and elderly audience where as some films such as the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film has been made more suitable and understanding for the older generations as well as the younger generations and this is because the audience has grown up watching the TV shows that they have made a film suitable for all types of audience.
Talk about examples of some multi-platform content and how it has reached new audiences and generated revenue from it. (Most likely need to talk to tutor about this)An example of multi-platform content is
3.3 Describe examples of commissioning processes and funding opportunities in relation to converging technology
Research into commissioning processes and funding opportunities with relation to converging technology
4.1 Explain opportunities for exploiting converging technology
Find and research opportunities for exploiting converging technology and explain how.
4.2 Research and plan a test for an identified opportunity
Look into and plan a test for an identified opportunity of my choice?
4.3 Carry out planned test and evaluate and present the findings
Show an example of a planned test and evaluate the plan, show a link to a drop box / goggle drive.
Luke Jones 
