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This is probably the only qualm I have with this media piece. Though Warner Bros. receives credit and the main characters featured in the trailer are named with credits, I feel the creator could have maybe added some kind of credit roll toward the end. Now, I do actually like how the creator blended citation materials in the actual video, but these cues can be subtle and still ruffle feathers. The Youtube page itself probably holds a disclaimer, but something a little more formal should have been inserted into the video. Nonetheless, the media succeeds in generating a thought-provoking reaction and connects viewers across the shared experience of Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio fandom.

As I considered the target audience for this video, I couldn’t help but think “geek.” I don’t use that as pejorative term, but as one of endearment. We all have those “geek” moments, when we “geek” out to something we love or have developed an inherent bond with. If you’re a Batman, Inception, Christian Bale, Liam Neeson, etc. fan, then this is definitely one of those “geek” videos just for you.

On the Youtube page where the video exists in the Internet domain, users can leave comments and unveil whether they like the video or dislike it. A hypertext allows users to access this page, as well as receive options to view similar items.

Entertainment

This video, blending mystery, psychological, action and adventurous genres together, allows viewers to craft their own story. If viewers know anything about the characters presented in Inception and The Dark Knight, then they undoubtedly can put together the creator’s intended plot. Or can they? The creator of the video leaves that to the viewer. In effect, the creator’s  rhetorical strategies are extremely effective and leave viewers guessing and creating. The visual and audio cues supplement the overall tone of the video perfectly and provides an enjoyable viewing experience. The creator skillfully uses Brion Gysin’s cut-up method to produce a brilliant, entertaining work.

I feel that our crafted heuristic does fit with the “This is Scholarship” media piece almost as equally well as it does for the “The Batman Complex” video.

Content

The video flows fluidly as well, without any weird juxtapositions. The text and video elements blend together while also being broken into distinguishable scenes. In this case, the creator(s) use digital, online and print-based media to drive home their point and they do a good job of it.

Ethics & Responsible Use

The work is obviously very original and I’m sure it took a long time to produce. With their inclusion of computer screens, online catalogs, online periodicals, Google Scholar, JSTOR and other devices as characters in the

piece, the creator(s) manage to completely and fully cite their material. There’s even audio attribution toward the end of the video as the woman explains the new media philosophies adopted by several institutions and universities. The media manages to generate a thought-provoking reaction just by explaining the significance of new scholarly media.

Interactivity

The media manages to be interactive in pretty much the same way “The Batman Complex” adopts its own interactive hypertexts. Users are able to pause, play, rewind and fast forward the video–giving them a modicum of control over their viewing activity.

Demographics & Entertainment

This media also manages to use a combination of humans and inanimate objects to create an overall lesson. This media does have a specific audience–academics, or those affected by academia. Any college student, professor or innovator in pedagogy will want to pay attention to this media because they are bound to learn that, in the face of the digital revolution (or movement, whichever you prefer), the way scholarship and research are performed is undergoing a paradigm shift.

Audio/Visual Quality

I like how, towards the end of the video, the creator(s) interrupts what users would take as the normal structure of the media and inserts a woman’s voice. It was unexpected. Though this is no cinematic or action-packed media example like “The Batman Complex,” the creator(s) knows his/her/their audience well. People who watch things on videos need to be engaged; they need to stay in tune with what they’re watching, otherwise they become bored and disinterested. The inclusion of the woman toward the video’s close is a nice touch that I feel buffers the point of the video. Behold, a new type of scholarship:

Final Analysis:

Because these two types of media are so different in their intentions, it may at first seem difficult to examine them as corollaries. Yet, I posit that the heuristic–in its questions about genre, entertainment, rhetorical strategies and ethics–manages to cover enough broad ranges that most new media pieces could probably be evaluated by these criteria.Both “This is Scholarship” and “The Batman Complex” tell a story; both have intriguing layout and design; both use visual and audio cues to enhance the viewer’s experience; both are entertaining enough that they provoke thoughtful reactions and allow for some reflection; both are skillfully created and edited. The only main difference, other than their pop-culture vs. academic genres, is that “This is Scholarship” creator(s) manages to more carefully cite his/her/their material and attribute his/her/their sources.