Introduction
This page was created for use in the 'Blogging and Video Blogging for Arts Promotion' workshop which was part of the 'Mind your Arts' series of workshops for the City of Stirling in Perth, Western Australia.
Take a look around and visit some of the links we have assembled. Feel free to email us at ftitraining@fti.asn.au
This lens will be left online after the workshop, so you can always come back and revist us.
What is a Blog?
Blogging has rapidly taken off in the last few years and has has a big effect on areas such as internet culture, journalism and print based publications.
So, What is a Blog?
Blog is short for web log, an online diary. They have become immensely popular over the last 2 years and are one of the best examples of the internet changing from being a passive medium where we read information to an active medium where we are constantly adding information.
Blogs cover a million different topics, some are online diaries, people share their lives, hopes and aspirations, others are more specialized on a particular subject.
There are some fairly common features though, most have the most recent post at the top and you scroll down to read older entries. Most have access to archives and older posts as well.
Most Blogs are created online through simple free web based publishing programs. Some of the more common are Blogger, Word Press and Live Journal.
So, What is a Blog?
Blog is short for web log, an online diary. They have become immensely popular over the last 2 years and are one of the best examples of the internet changing from being a passive medium where we read information to an active medium where we are constantly adding information.
Blogs cover a million different topics, some are online diaries, people share their lives, hopes and aspirations, others are more specialized on a particular subject.
There are some fairly common features though, most have the most recent post at the top and you scroll down to read older entries. Most have access to archives and older posts as well.
Most Blogs are created online through simple free web based publishing programs. Some of the more common are Blogger, Word Press and Live Journal.
Some Examples of Blogging Resources
There are lots of free platforms available online for blogging, well known ones are Word Press, Live Journal, Blogger, Yahoo 360 and My Space.
- Blogger
- Blogger is one of the most popular and easiest to use Blog Publishers. The site recently went through a major redevelopment and is now even easier to use.
- Word Press
- Word Press is a little different in that you host it on your own server. Many businesses and Professional Bloggers use WordPress.
- My Space
- My Space was originally popular with younger web users, the biggest activity on my space is collecting cyber-friends. However many people also use it's inbuilt blogging feature. My space is great for adding video or sound content.
- Yahoo 360
- Yahoo also offer a blogging platform with thier Yahoo 360. One of it's disadvantages to other blog publishers is it can not be greatly modified.
- Live Journal
- Live Journal is popular because it allows you to make a differentiation between posts that just your familty and friends recieve and those which everyone can read. In general Live Journal tends to be a bit more 'emotional' in tone. Posters often note their mood and feelings with each post.
Some Examples of Blogs in Action
Let's take a look at some blogs in action that use different publishing options.
- One Twenty
- Using the Word Press Publishing software - this local site 'One Twenty Events' hopes to convey information about things in Perth that may be of interest. It is aimed at the somewhat geeky games, animation, computer programing set.
- The Angriest
- Palywright and Comic Book author Grant Watson (yes, he's my little brother) uses a Live Journal to talk about the things he cares about.
- Writing for Stage and Screen
- Local filmwriter Fraces Macaulay Forde uses Yahoo 360 to blog.
- Graeme Watson
- Personally, I'm a fan of Blogger.
Examples of Blogs that Promote Artists
Listed below are a few blogs that promote a variety of different artists.
- Australian International Documentary Conference
- Joost Den Hartog, Director of the upcomming Australian International Documentary Conference uses a blog to highlight breaking news and developments related to the conference. It creates interest, and hopefully readers convert into registrations.
- Deviant Art
- Deviant Art is a site that allows artists to put up examples of their work and work in progress, it also has an inbuilt blogging feature.
- Timothy Merks Arts Blog
- Local comic book artist and animator Timothy Merks uses a blog to show work in progress and provide links to online copies of his comics and short films.
- Analogizing
- Kim Alphandary blogs about Political Art
- Zeke's Gallery
- This contempory Art Gallery in Montreal uses a blog and podcasts (Audio content)to promote the events at the gallery. They also include transcripts of recent talks and speeches.
Video on the Web
Recently the availability of Video on the internet has exploded. You may have heard of the site's such as You Tube or BrightCove that allow people to upload their own video content to web.
Many artistic organisations are taking advantage of these services to build audiences through showing us behind the scenes work, sneak previews and interviews with artists.
Many artistic organisations are taking advantage of these services to build audiences through showing us behind the scenes work, sneak previews and interviews with artists.
Video for Arts Promotion
Here are a few examples of video being used by artists. This technique could work for theatre, painting, sculpture, or performance based material.
- The Pirate Queen
- This Irish show that has just opened on Broadway, contstantly adds clips of behind the scenes material about different parts of the production. They can be viewed from the site, but also downloaded to your IPOD or computer through itunes.
- British National Theatre
- The British National Theatre includes interviews with the Directors of each show in it's website.
- Stageworks
- The British National Theatre also has Stageworks a site for educators, take a look at this presentation where they show a dramatic presentation from many perspectives.
- Small Metal Objects
- The play 'Small Metal Objects' is bound top be a talking point of the 2007 Perth International Arts Festival, it was on earlier this year at the Sydney festival. They made a short video to promote the film.
- Grafitii Sounds
- Take a look at the work of these artists who create 'grafitti' sounds.
Some other blogging resources
Here are few sites that are also helpful for blogging.
- Technorati
- Technorati is an internet search engine specifically for bloggers. As they point out - there are 55 millions blogs onlines - some of them have to be good.
- Blogpulse
- Blogpulse allows you to measure a blogs popularity. It shows how often someone posts and how many people linkl into their site.
- Perth Blogger's Meet Up
- Want to meet other bloggers? The Perth Boggers Meet-Up Group catches up monthly.
Some of our latest Blog Discoveries
The links below are some of the latest things we've discovered on the web about blogs and video blogging. Come back often as this list is always updating.
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kwylo
Graeme Watson is the Professional Development and Training Manager at the Film and Television Institute. He has a fascination with technological developments... more »
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