Report - Assignment THREE

1. The challenges and tribulations of being a group assignment
Since we were in the same group from our last assignment, assumingly the same challenges and tribulations we encountered before would appear in this assignment. However, to some extent, our communication problem from our last assignment had improved which allowed for easier group work. This may be due to understanding this problem and resolving it during the practical lessons way before we started this assignment. Furthermore, we separated the assignment clearly into different sections this time so that there will be no unfair distribution of work. This clearly helped to resolve the unfair distribution of work that had occurred during the last assignment.

However, this time we had new problems and challenges which we encountered. We had trouble collaborating and taking each other’s ideas into account when deciding on what to do. There were a lot of disagreement of what the subject of the video should be, who would do what part, when things should be done, when to meet up and finally, after deciding the topic, we had trouble deciding what to film. We were put through a lot of frustration but after calmly looking at it and taking a step back; we managed to cooperate and set up a schedule and assigned roles that everyone was satisfied with.

During the process of filming and editing, the video editor realized that some of the videos were redundant, while others had really bad quality. This made it really hard to edit and thus in the end, the video editor had to do some re-filming and extra filming. This was obviously due to the lack of experience in filming and video editing (for the camera person) and lack of attention to detail. But this wasn’t too much of a problem for any group member, despite being a big part of the assessment as it was an understandable problem/mistake and it was easily resolved.

Another problem the video editor encountered was a lack of narration. This may have been a communication problem as there was a misunderstanding when drawing up the storyboard. However, it was easily solved by assigning a narrator and writing up a short script.

2. The process of creating the video
Our group generally took an ordered method in creating a video. We basically used the stages of planning, filming, editing and evaluating.

Planning: The topic was chosen through large amounts of discussion. We then drew up a storyboard where we clearly pointed out what we were going to film, who was going to feature in the video, who was going to film and who was going to edit. We basically ran through a brief idea what the script was going to be like, how the video was going to look, what background music was going to be used and what software and hardware we were going to use. During this stage we had also decided when things were going to be done and how they were going to be done.

Filming: During this process, one person went around the university to do some filming using a camera. Unfortunately some of the videos were unusable due to the poor video quality and thus another group member had to do some more filming. Another group member had to memorise her script and basically play her part featuring in the video. This step was really straightforward and was done really quickly.

Editing: This step was quite challenging because the video editor had a lot of problems finding enough footage to use (as the quality to poor). But basically the video was made using the storyboard. The video editor also added in a narration as the script wasn’t written clearly to suit the storyboard. The finished production was then uploaded on youtube (as a private video) and embedded onto a blog post.

Evaluation: In order to attain constructive criticism, we asked other people to look at the video. Most of the people liked it and found the video done well. The only problem we found was the quality of the videos that were used. Since the iphone had poor video recording technology, it resulted in videos that were quite blurry, pixilated and slow. This is clearly seen in the video.

Overall, the video was created using a very standard process.

3. How does the video relate to your blog?
Basically, our blog was about food and our video is about food. This already suggests that we decided to clearly make something related to our blog. Since we realized that we were spending most of our time on campus therefore we decided to make a video on food at campus. We thought this would be a great aid for students at MQ (well for some extent).

Furthermore, since most of our blog readers were ISYS100MQ students (our target audience) we thought it was relevant to create a video that would interest our target audience. This would greatly improve our blog readership.

Food at MQ - Assignment THREE

Enjoy~
Sorry about the quality. Iphone's don't have the best video recording technology, unfortunately.

Report

Get a hard copy here.

Explain why you chose the blog topic?
A task where we are required to establish and maintain a shared blog in western mainstream society was a real challenge for a group where the majority of the group members had language difficulties. Nevertheless, we managed to overcome this and after long consideration, eventually agreed to do a blog about food. Eating is a staple part in everyone’s lives. There are no language barriers, cultural barriers as in our global context; people are willing to experience new types of food. This is supported in a number of cook shows and reality TV shows such as Masterchef.

Another reason why food is an excellent topic for a group with our situation is that it allowed for easy communication. Since food appeals to the sense of taste and smell rather than solely on sight, we had the opportunity to utilize this and find ways to convey the taste of the food without just using words (in our case we established a rule where each post must be accompanied by a picture or something of the similar nature). Of course what is explained here can be applied to other topics, however, food was the easiest to work with within our timeframe.

What were the largest challenges with a team assignment?
Like described in the previous question the major difficulty our group faced were communication and language barriers. Since the majority of students grew up using English as a secondary or a supplementary language, a task that involves writing is naturally a huge challenge. Thus relating to language and cultural barriers, choosing a topic also became a problem in our group. This is because the ranging number of interests each member has was not uniform and thus leading us to indecision.

Another challenge relating to indecision was choosing the layout of the blog. On assumption, this must be a common problem as it is inevitable that each group member would have differing views for the best layout. But after research and compromise our group agreed to use a premade free layout from blogskins.com. It was the easiest and the quickest solution which was an ideal answer to our problem.

Another problem our group faced was creating a gmail account. This didn’t hinder us, however, it provided us with a headache at the beginning. Since one is required to use a gmail account to create a blogger account therefore we had to create a new gmail account that we could all access. What we faced was choosing a username that hasn’t been used (hadn’t expected it to be that difficult), choosing a password that google agreed to and finally connecting everyone’s gmail accounts to our blogger account so that we could each blog separately. The latter was the hardest out of the three as regardless of the amount of emails and draft posts were used, there were members who didn’t understand the idea and didn’t comply with the group’s requirement. The main reason for this was due to language barriers. Nevertheless, after clarification in our practical lesson, we were able to overcome every challenge we were faced with.

How did you come up with the final design that you used?
Like mentioned previously, our final layout was one that our whole group could agree on after using vast amounts of time to discuss it. Despite being a premade layout, it suited our blog’s theme, focus and each member’s tastes. We had initially considered using one that was professional looking with earnest looking boxes and all, however, after realizing our level of blogging we decided to degrade our blog style to informal and casual thus resulting in an informal and casual looking blog.

Choosing a layout which utilizes vectors instead of photographs was the first step of being comfortable with our style. Secondly, the amount of colours used greatly contributes to the style – professional looking blogs use a consistent three colours at most, therefore we chose a blog that had a consistent colour scheme yet didn’t limit the number of colours used. Thirdly, we had to decide on where each widget was to go. Of course there were the basic task requirements that we had to satisfy such as having the “About me” on the right and blog roll but we had the freedom of putting other elements onto our sidebars. Since our task requires people to make comments, the first thing we decided to do was create a chatbox on the side. Of course there were a number of issues we had to consider such as foul language but since our task required us to blog regularly, therefore, it was easy to monitor the comments. We then agreed to use the standard widgets such as labels/tags, archive etc and place them on the sidebars in an organised fashion.

Compare a blog that has similar content to yourself, critically analyse your site comparing theirs

Site: http://thefoodblog.com.au/

The Food Blog is more or less the professional blog style we had initially thought of using. Since we downgraded our style from professional to casual, our blog appears to have a lot of blemishes compared to The Food Blog. One obvious difference is the style of writing. It uses a conversational and humourous tone which captivates the readers. This is something our blog will never reach.

Another thing appealing about The Food Blog is that its layout is clean, crisp and organized. To some extent, our two sidebar layout is neat yet navigational wise it is poor. Since all the widgets aren’t ordered in any importance, the readers will have to search for the widget they need e.g. tags rather than being guided to it. Design elements could improve this problem such as numbering, colours etc however this makes the blog appear more unprofessional than it already is. The Food Blog, on the other hand, is able to employ its only sidebar to provide information in order of importance which makes this blog really appealing.

Furthermore, The Food Blog provides high resolution photos thus, even without appealing to the sense of taste or smell, readers can already taste the dish from the sense of sight. This is something our blog could work on (i.e. SLRs or better camera pixels or editing photo on photoshop can be used to improve photo quality). In relation to this, The Food Blog’s writer also appears to have some knowledge of photography and design. This is seen through the ways the photographs are taken and presented. In order for us to reach that we would need some training.

Moreover, The Food Blog appears more credible than our blog. This is clearly based on the writing. Our blog uses too much slang, emoticons, capital letters, font colour and ellipses making the blog appear overly friendly and sometimes just plain silly. The Food Blog on the other hand appears reserved yet friendly through its tone.

Lastly, The Food Blog has more of a variety in its content while our blog, for some reason, has a tendency to promote Asian cuisine. This isn’t a bad thing yet since we claim to be a blog about food, not Asian food, there should be more variety in our food choices. What we admire about The Food Blog is the amount of detail the writer is able to go into about a certain dish or sauce etc which is something our blog has problems with (our post tend to be very short).

In summary, The Food Blog is a popular blog with a fairly big readership. This is credible to the whole make up of their blog and their regular updates. After comparing our blog to such a professional looking blog, there is clearly a lot of tweaking that our blog needs.

Down to reality

Most of us spend a majority of our time either at uni or at home. Since i haven't been doing any cooking, therefore, i can't provide you with a post about home food cooking. However, since i attend uni 4 days a week, eating at the uni food court is inevitable.

So let's see what i had?

Tacos - $4.95

Spud - $7.10

Fish and Chips - $7.50

Initially i thought uni food would be a rip off and taste ... well (i better be careful here) boring? However, i was wrong. It's even better value than what they offer at the foodcourt in MQ centre. I didn't have the taco, my friend did but she said it was worth it and quite filling. As for the spud, well i thought it was definitely worth it's value, they really top up the container with fillings. Okay the spud itself was quite small and i had expected them to put more cheese - melted cheese so it did disappoint me a bit, however, it still tasted nice. As for the fish and chips, generally i can't complain about the oil but the only thing that stops me from getting it daily is the oil. It really makes you feel sickening. Nevertheless, with chicken salt and tartare sauce the fish and chips really is worth it. Maybe they should give you more tartare sauce, i mean the little rectangular container is....well....little for five fish pieces. And yess... the whole meal is very filling. It even comes with a drink.

So yes, the next time you're at uni, instead of going to MQ centre you should try some of the meal values at the variety of stores MQ has to offer. LOL perhaps i'm not the person to recommend food as i'm not as qualified as Matt Moran but you know... since the competition for these food stores aren't exactly small therefore the ones that are left there must, at least have patrons (thus suggesting good food).

Breakfast on your iphone

When I first saw this video on one website, I said to myself - "How amazing it is!!" Can we really eat it? Or it is just faked food? But after I had finished watching this video. I made sure that i had it for tomorrow's breakfast :)

Although, I do not own an iphone, i found this a really creative idea and it brings me to the importance of having good breakfast. You can see from the topping for example egg, kiwi, salmon in olive and other vegetables are all really essential to our body.

According to multiple of reliable sources, this iSandwich 4G video is delicious. How Microsoft will eat lunch knowing that this new menu is on offer, I do not know... HAHAHA

I shall stop blabbering. Watch it for youself -

Noooodle.. or Ramen

After we had made several reviews on Asian Food, today I have come back with another A.S.I.A.N. dish again.The dish I am proud to present is Ramen!! I really love its pork soup with it's big pieces of meat, seaweed, half boiled egg in a bowl full of thick noodles..

Ramen comes in different flavours with different topping such as egg, pork belly, scallions, nori seaweed, onion and butter (how come?). When I first saw that butter in my Ramen, I was surprised but at the end the waitress told me that it makes the soup more "Creamy and Thicky..". HAHA Thicky??

When people eat their Ramen, it is best if you eat it loudly. It means you are paying respect to Ramen Chef. Many times I have noticed people eating, it is very very very noisily and i wondered why. So I didn't want to be different and started loudly slurping away. =D

You can find Ramen restaurants everywhere, especially on Asian Streets. The price is usually between $9.50- 35.00 according to your choice. Some restaurants might be so full that you may have to queue.

Cheers!

Italian Pizza

(Photo from Foodies)

Italian Pizzas are one of the most delicious food. The history of it and the way to cook it are also very interesting.

Many many people think that pizza was created by the Italians themselves, however, there is a funny story behind it. Long ago, a traveler, Marco Polo, came to China and ate a CongYou cookie. When he went back to Italy, he missed the taste of CongYou cookie so much that he tried to cook it. In China, people put filling inside the CongYou cookie, but Marco put all filling outside the cookie. Then he tasted that cookie, he thought it was yummy, though it was not CongYou cookie.
Later, this kind of cookie was spread and it was named the Pizza.

I like the pizza and enjoy it very much. I hope you like it too.