Real-time aggregation

This is part of module help

Posted by Val Lay on Thursday, 17 August 2017

Look ma, my first Facebook Live video!

Hey people! Nice seeing everyone back in school after a good break! It was just the first tutorial when Randall dropped a bomb on us that we had to go ‘LIVE’ on facebook. Not for just 1 or 2 minutes but 15 MINUTES

We were all like

Stage 1. The ‘Really? Do i have to?’

Most of us were visibly unwilling as the idea of going ‘live’ scared us. That meant being unable to EDIT, FILTER and make any adjustments if something cropped up and we just we plain unglamorous. I believe this is due to the highly curated social media feeds that we (millennials) have. The rawness scares us. Nonetheless, we live by ‘YOLO’ and whipped out our devices, took a deep breath as I thought ‘Here Goes Nothing’

Stage 2. Ok we live now

It read ‘You’re now live!’ on my screen. 1 view. 2 views. And then 3. You start ‘feelin it’ and address the people viewing as if you’re doing a skype video call. Easy, I thought. I started becoming comfortable as I didnt see faces or my viewers staring back at me, which weirdly makes me feel more at ease. Initially, I had no idea what to do in front of a live audience. Gradually, I started going with the flow and reacting to people and things like how I would. I was actually starting to enjoy it.

Stage 3. Friends running away

As I went around ADM, I saw a couple of friends where it was a natural tendency to frame them in your misc-en-scene too. When I chased them and shouted, ‘Facebook Live!’, it was also a natural tendency for them to avoid the camera or runaway from it.

The screenshot shows one friend accidentally tripping and hitting the door while trying to get away from the camera.

A junior is also seen here doing the typical of blocking the camera with their hands. It sparked a thought here, why do kids not do this when you flash a camera in their faces? At which point did we start to feel uncomfortable in front of a camera? Especially being on ‘live’?

Closing thoughts

 Cross-streaming and its Interesting perspectives

Throughout the live video, everyone was noticeably focused on what we were filming on our phones. It turned out pretty amusing to see the different perspectives of a same location when our videos were viewed collectively on screen. Certain angles of a same location or scenario can actually change how things appear on this third space, which we might not notice if we hadnt viewed all screens together.

The star of this ‘live’ video stream

So this pink llama appeared in almost everyone’s live stream. We were all probably amused by a random shocking pink stuffed toy on one of our tables. It replicates the idea of how each person can be interacting with a same object, but the different ways of doing it and perspective of it can be different in many ways. Also, before the live video, I was also playing with this llama with my friends and named him Kendrick. Shoutout out to ma people if ya got the reference

If not please refer to this meme

Technicalities

One thing that irked me was the incorrect format the video turned out. This was due to iPhone’s orientation lock which I forgot to toggle. Perhaps facebook’s User Interface team could provide a notification to tell its users that the format is incorrect. This was unknown throughout the whole live screening and it was disappointing to not have an aesthetic orientation.

Also, one thing I could do is to switch between the front and back camera for a better variety of views. Perhaps I should also keep my hand more stable and hold on certain frames to get a better composition.

In summary

As a whole, this was a fun run as everyone was as clueless as each other yet we still gave it a go. Indeed through this live video, we’re able to pick up some idiosyncrasies and behaviourals of our friends that we never knew! Looking forward to more sessions!