Preparation for Year 2

It might be the end of Year 1, but that doesn’t mean that I’m resting on my laurels and just enjoying the sunshine.

As part of Creative Futures for next year, I will be making the Immersive Web Experience all about Richie Benaud, so I have bought the book Richie published in 2011, to learn more about my subject, ready to create a product worthy of the man.

It’s a fascinating read, and even though I’m only 3 chapters in, I have discovered things that I never knew, and I thought I knew my subject well.

I’m looking forward to getting through the book, and using this knowledge in my product in Year 2.

Immersive Web Experience – Richie Benaud – Final Version

Having made small adjustments to the Immersive Web Experience (IWE), I believe that I have managed to get to grips with InVision, and Photoshop to make a product that is in keeping with the assignment brief.

It is a product that benefits from the immersive approach, and with the blend of text, audio, video and photos, it showcases Richie Benaud perfectly.

There are 28 different elements to the presentation, which is fully interactive, and will be a great stepping stone to making it for real in Year 2.

By using InVision in this way, I have been able to cross check with the Mindomo map I created earlier in the semester, and make slight adjustments where things needed to be added, changed, or removed.

The IWE is available to view from the InVision website link.

Immersive Web Experience – Richie Benaud – Powerpoint Mockup

When selecting my influential journalist, it was before the sad passing of Richie Benaud, that I had selected the great man to focus on.

With his death, it made the task of representing the man, all the more important and poignant.

I have created a mockup of the immersive web experience that I will be creating at a later stage of the course, so that I can work on further content in preparation for the finished article.

 

Richie Benaud – Immersive Web Experience Cover

The content has been mapped out using Mindomo, which has been a revelation to me, in terms of thrashing out the content, separating the wheat from the chaff, and is something that I highly recommend people to use who are trying to create a product such as this.

This is the link to my Immersive Web Experience – Mockup on Richie Benaud.  I have created screenshots, using Photoshop and InDesign, and referred to external content in the presentation, which will be linked within the finished version of the IWE.

 

Richie Benaud IWE

 

 

 

Immersive Web Experience – Richie Benaud – Influential Journalist

Cricket is a game played around the world, from the large Test playing nations such as England, Australia, and New Zealand, to smaller associate teams such as Ireland, The Netherlands, Afganistan, and the United Arab Emirates.

The game has changed since the first test match, played between England and Australia in 1877, with Test Matches over 5 days being for the purists, One Day Internationals played over 50 overs of 6 balls, and the emergence of the Twenty 20 competition introduced in England in 2003.  The latter being a quicker format of the game, to broaden the appeal to casual observers, with speed being the essence, and a full game being completed in 3 hours or less.

Rivalries between teams and countries has been in existence since the first game was played, with the biggest battles between India and Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand, and Australia and England.  The latter battle is played for “The Ashes”, the prize being a small urn made of terracotta, and is reputed to contain the ashes of a cricket bail which was burnt to signify the body of English Cricket having died, being cremated and the ashes placed within.

The battles between England and Australia are well-known throughout the years, and always bring out the best, and sometimes worst in the two countries.

One player who featured in Test Matches for Australia was Richard “Richie” Benaud.

Richie Benaud was more than just a cricketer for Australia, he became known to a younger audience for his journalism and commentary work from 1960 until his passing in April 2015.

Influential right to the end, Benaud’s death was greeted with sadness, but also an outpouring of respect and genuine love for his work throughout the world.  His name was trending on social media worldwide once his death had been announced.

His role in modernising the game he played at the highest standard cannot be underestimated.

The influence he had in the game, with bat, ball, pen, and typewriter, makes him an ideal subject to conduct my research on.  An immersive web experience on the man who shaped cricket will be a fitting tribute to Richie.

To quote the man, I hope it will be “Marvellous”.

Immersive Web Experience – Richie Benaud – Thoughts

There is a lot more meaning to my selection for a journalist that has influenced his or her craft, with the untimely death of Richie Benaud.

I had chosen Richie, given his contribution to Cricket, both as a player and as a journalist, back in February, but his passing, makes my feelings of responsibility to create a piece of work worthy of his legacy even stronger.

The outpouring of emotion across the world via the media and on social media, proves how well respected he was by fans of the game, regardless of their nationality.

I hope that when my piece is finished and handed in, that it will stand up as an appropriate tribute to a true gentleman.

Immersive Web Experience – Richie Benaud – Target Audience

Richie Benaud is a well respected journalist and broadcaster, not just in his home nation of Australia.  It’s a mark of the man that his work is seen as of such a standard that wherever he broadcasts, the cricketing public take note of it.

When looking at who to target this Immersive Web Experience (IWE) to, I feel that it would be beneficial to try to accommodate as many sectors as possible.

I spoke to friends who follow the game of cricket, and they thought it was a great idea to feature Richie.  They advised that there needed to be as much information as possible about his entire career, and if the information cannot be posted within the document, then external links would only add value to the product.

Having consulted with people who follow the game, and know of Richie Benaud, I decided to widen the appeal of the product to as many people as possible, around the world.  So my process will keep that in mind, and consult with people throughout the entire process, cricket followers, and also people who have never seen the game played, either on television or live.

So to define my target audience, I am pitching it at everyone of all ages, and genders.  As there is photos and videos, it can be accessed by people of all countries and languages.

 

Immersive Web Experience – Richie Benaud – Approaching the topic

There are many journalists that have inspired me over the years.  Some have been in the field of news journalism, and some have solely featured sport as their copy.

Out of these journalists, I have chosen Richie Benaud as my journalist who has inspired me.

If you are unsure on who Richie Benaud is, I hope that my immersive media product, and additional print based document, will enlighten you to the man who is one of the most respected cricket journalists throughout the world.

From humble beginnings, Benaud played in 63 Test Matches, and captained Australia on 28 occasions.  He was the first cricketer from an nation to complete the double of 2000 runs scored, and taking over 200 wickets, a feat completed in 1963.

After retiring from playing the game, Benaud moved into journalism, firstly as a police recorder and subsequentially as a cricket correspondent for the News of the World.  He moved into a Radio and Television career around the world, firstly with the BBC in Radio in 1960, and to television in 1963 again with the BBC, before moving to Channel 4 in 1999. In his home country of Australia, his commentary career was a late bloomer, only starting on the Nine Network in 1977, with the advent of the divisive World Series Cricket, where Kerry Packer had convinced players to join his rival cricket competition.

With that, Benaud had a job for life with the network, but his standing within the cricket community, meant that he was able to commentate on the game around the world over 5 decades.

So how does that inspire me?  Being a fellow lover of the game of cricket, albeit without the necessary level of competence playing the game,  the impact on me as a child, was that whenever you heard Benaud’s voice, you knew it was time to enjoy watching the game, through the English summer.

His willingness to report on, and in a lot of cases, path out the direction of the future of Cricket, whilst being criticized for his move to the Packer series, proves a lot about his standing within the game, and he still commands respect whenever he speaks.