Check out my Rip.Mix.Feed assignment here: 
(Run time: less than 1 min.)
What motivated me to explore this application was my mom.
Yes, my 70 year-old mother!
She attends a Tablet class for Japanese seniors, which I think is a wonderful program for “digital immigrants” like her.
On a random morning, my siblings and I received a WhatsApp message from our mom containing a short video of dancing ninjas. She had used a photo we took during Christmas last year and superimposed our faces on each of the figures using this free app called “NinjaMe”.
Objective:
I wanted to experiment taking a historical topic and juxtapose it with a modern display. So I used the images from my research in our video doc assignment (the history of penny press newspapers).
Other reasons for choosing this application:
- Ease of use: Ability to import photos from your photo album and to export the finished video directly to YouTube.
- It’s free!
Drawbacks/Limitations:
- The photos I used were black & white so I wanted to add color to them, but this app doesn’t allow for modifications within the app. So you have to photo edit them in another app (I like using Snapseed) and save them to your iPhoto album.
- The app lacks the function to add text or modify existing templates; Default would read “Happy NinjaMe!”. Other messaging like “happy birthday” would cost $2.67, and would not be appropriate to the topic.
- I was not able to add context to the production (eg. names of the founding fathers of penny newspapers) or overlay my own music or voiceover.
- I could not be gender neutral. Henry Jarvis Raymond of the New York Times is shown in pink female attire.
In terms of knowledge mobilization and learning, this form of production exemplifies how entertainment may take precedence over knowledge gathering. The sheer randomness of dancing ninjas and how it doesn’t relate to the topic at hand, is ironically what makes this bizarrely entertaining.
Jo
August 9, 2018 — 9:23 am
Hi Cathy,
Thanks for providing us with an entertaining Rip.Mix.Feed post! I LOVE that your mom is taking a tablet class for immigrants to Canada, and that at aged 70 she is digitally literate (… I wish I could say the same for my 82 year old mum back in the UK – being able to FaceTime her without having to have someone with a smartphone present would be awesome!)
You make a good point about knowledge mobilization and learning, and how this form of production exemplifies how entertainment may take precedence over knowledge gathering … but I think there are many apps out there that do the same and yet are super popular as they do the rounds on social media. Sometimes we just need to have a little fun!