It seems that “new media” has begun to seep into every aspect of life. With an increase in the digitization and socialization of media, new media continues to break

ground and sometimes even change lives.

The term “new media” itself is extremely broad. For example, Lev Manovich, author of multiple books on new media and professor of Visual Arts at University of California, wrote an entire essay on the possible five characteristics of new media (http://ow.ly/7lnaZ), with an additional eight propositions. But because the general public is usually unaware of the technical side of the definition, a lot of people don’t realize that when they reference “new media” they’re actually referring to “social media.”

“Social media” narrows down the definition, and is exactly what it sounds like. Social media is what turns new media into an interactive dialogue.

The main players of social media include Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Where would the world be without these? We can say for certain that Ellie Kemper would never have been cast on The Office, and Justin Bieber would just be another kid with a bad haircut. But aside from individuals showcasing their talent in the entertainment business, social media has recently come into further use in the field of film and videography.

On October 31, 2011 YouTube announced that it’s crowdsourced documentary Life in a Day would be available to view for free on their website. Life in a Day is one of the first social media films, and truly a beautiful piece of art. In 2010, YouTube put out a call to it’s users to submit videos of their day on that upcoming July 24. They received over 80,000 clips from 192 nations totaling 4,500 hours of footage, all of which were submitted to YouTube itself. Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald and his team of editors and researchers sifted through them and created a 94 minute movie which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2011 with the premiere of the film streaming live on YouTube. The film features pieces of people’s day that day, including everything from a man drinking on a park bench in the early morning hours, to a boy and his father starting their day by paying tribute to their deceased mother/wife. This film takes the every day YouTube video and turns it into something beautiful and spectacular. It never loses it’s sense of communal contribution and creation, and moreover reminds you that you are never alone. A documentary about life itself and a great example of social media being turned into a work of art.

Some, however, are choosing to use social media to help fund their art. Eddy Terstall, a filmmaker in Holland recently used Twitter to help raise money for his upcoming film project. His idea was to create a quick films based on tweets by those who donated money to his project. A 10 euro donation got you a 10 second film based on your tweet. 20 euros got a 20 second tweet based film, etc. By the end of the donation period, he was able to raise 120K euros and successfully produce his film. http://ow.ly/7lv9D

New and social media continue to enhance film and videography, pushing it into the 21st century. What lies ahead for the digital age is still unknown, but the symbiotic relationship between new/social media and film seems to only get stronger. Those who embrace it might be able to find creative ways to fund their projects or possibly create a whole new genre of film, an unexplored frontier, giving a voice to the digital mass.

This article is a video production tip from The Michael Group, a company specializing in video production Chicago, written for the Pixelriffic blog.