O is for Online (2021)

Still from Leave A Like

Featured Projects:

Online projects:

Curatorial Statement:

These Mobile videos were created in MSP4541: Mobile Media in Fall 2021 with Dr. Adrienne Shaw and Prof. Laura Zaylea. Students were asked to create videos entirely on a mobile phone or tablet, ideally filming and editing on the same device if possible. They were asked to make videos that express what it means to feel both mobile and connected to other people, specifically considering the themes of engagement, conversation, and connection. The resulting projects varied greatly. Sarah Hobbi’s Leave a Like offers a reflection on the disconnect between our online personas and our offline needs for emotional comfort. Hannah Ninan’s Thank God for FaceTime explores how mobile technologies allow us to connect, sometimes imperfectly, with distant loved ones. Haya Qubbaj’s Follow Me Around takes the form of a vlog, to show how mobile technologies can allow us to show what is happening in our day-to-day lives with friends and followers alike. And finally, The Room by Rebekah Santos mimics a first-person perspective video game in style while also showing, through the process of getting ready to leave her room, how objects can connect us to memories of people we care about. All projects were submitted with research papers, reflecting on how scholarship about mobile video and the social interaction elements of mobile media were used to inform the creators’ work. Although you can experience these videos on any web-connected device, we recommend you try viewing them on a smart phone or tablet to experience them as particularly mobile works.

Return to the Emerge, Volume 5 (2021) table of contents