The Huge and Revolutionary Step in the Right Direction for Media Convergence That Nobody Knows About Yet (#1)

The world needs to prepare itself, because hitRECord has set in motion an idea that could change media convergence forever. As stated right on the homepage, hitRECord has "evolved into a professional open collaborative production company. We create and develop art and media collaboratively here on our site."

Instead of explaining it myself, I should let the company's creator itself explain it. You might recognize him.

When I discovered this Web site over the summer, I knew right away that this was something I really wanted to be involved with. It's something that I think that everyone interested in making creative media should be involved with. There are a lot of people already making their mark, even big names like Channing Tatum. The beauty of hitRECord is that it is anyone's game. Anyone can make a RECord. Anyone can remix a RECord. Anyone is invited to collaborate and become a part of something truly meaningful. And I feel grateful to be a piece of something I find so special.

Your contribution can start as something small: a few words, a picture, a tune, an idea. And then they're remixed. Someone can take your lyrics and record a melody for it. Someone can then sing along to the tune. Then someone could in turn start filming video to go along with the song. It can become really big really quickly, and everyone involved turns a profit if it goes anywhere. Even if it doesn't, it feels good to create something really beautiful and real.

A long-time vet of hitRECord, Jenyffer Maria, contributes her illustrations. Here's something she's done.

Image taken from hitRECord.

But she doesn't just post them for herself; she also contributes to collaborations. For example, she illustrated characters from a story another hitRECorder wrote, and those illustrations helped to inspire real-life footage taken for a video to go along with the story.

One of the most beautiful collaborations I have come across since joining hitRECord and browsing the RECords started as lyrics that Lawrie Brewster posted. Metaphorest than remixed it and posted herself singing the lyrics. Then Channing Tatum (yes, the same one you're thinking of) laid down some harmonies to accompany her melody. And then another hitRECorder added some video to add a really beautiful visual aspect to the experience. Here's the finished product.

I really believe that hitRECord is the future of media convergence. It exemplifies the technological and aesthetic shifts in media. Right now it has a steady following and involvement but so many people haven't discovered it yet. The more people that learn about the company and its purpose and start RECording, the bigger it will get. And soon collaborative art like what is being made at hitRECord will come to the forefront. I hope that day comes soon.

The Pros and Cons of Media Through the Eyes of the Average Teenaged Girl

My name is Megan and I'm from Nashua, New Hampshire.

This is a photograph I took of downtown Nashua from the roof of my favorite parking garage with my 35-mm SLR camera. I would consider it my hometown because I lived there longer than I lived anywhere else, even if I wasn't born there.

My fun media experience this summer was seeing Shutter Island. The book, by Dennis Lehane, is one of my favorites and it was really amazing being able to watch the plot unfold in front of me. It was one of the best film adaptations I've ever seen of a novel and it stayed extremely close to the original storyline, as well as being extremely visually stunning and well-casted.

One thing I like about media is how easily someone can publish works of art or writing for the world to see. Being published or becoming successful as a writer or artist can be very difficult and places like the internet allow you to start spreading the word about yourself and getting people to look at your stuff. One Web site I really like that enables the sharing and enjoyment of creative and original media, for example, is hitRECord. If you're an artist or writer or musician or filmmaker or anything of the sort, I would recommend you check it out. One thing I don't like is how easily that work can be stolen and plagiarized. If you post your material on a site or public forum, people can easily post it elsewhere an claim it as their own.

As for my professional future, I would ideally like to become a novelist while doing something with writing on the side to pay the bills while I write. I think I would really enjoy something like editing or publishing, something having to do with helping other people get their own work out there.