Patrick Waldrop - New Media
Patrick graduated in 2014 and writes: I decided to pursue a degree in ISF because I wanted to let my curiosity be my guide during my time at Berkeley. It was a great experience and I would recommend it for anyone who wants a meaningful challenge. I took courses in Sociology, Media, Engineering, Cognitive Science, and Information and each enriched my understanding of my thesis. This Fall I will be starting at UCLA as an MFA candidate in the Producers Program at the renowned School of Theater, Film, and Television.
Here is the abstract for Patrick’s thesis The purpose of this paper is to ethnographically survey the promise and peril of emerging developments in media and attempt to construct a set of heuristics for assessing the evolving landscape. Concepts are explored over four sections. The first discusses the evolving narrative form of transmedia, which utilizes multiple platforms to communicate a single narrative. The second explores the evolving role of the visionary as content migrates from a creator driven concept to a social activity. The third introduces emerging delivery technologies that elucidate, as we are the content, we are also the platform since each delivery tool is crafted to relate our inner experience in a communal space, and each is designed to interact with our senses. Finally the last chapter discusses the cloud, big data, and participation. Arguing that a social and economic transformation will follow the introduction of remixable and endlessly sharable content.
