On the Rocks! by Alekya Malladi

On the Rocks ! Sun, Ocean and Perfect Vacation Aishwarya Rajasekar | Akshada Muley | Alekya Malladi | Neha Oswal

PREFACE The other side of social media is the “perception of perfection”.From fabulous foods to glamorous vacations, social media is filled with them. But the matter of fact is that it is only a part of the story. “On the Rocks” at Anacapa Island is a curated fiction created in order to assess the power of a fiction and its effects on related counterparts. The project aims to test a small-scale fiction across the tourism industry and its intersection with social media. It later aims towards analyzing the far-fetched effects if such a fiction was replicated through multiple agencies. The project involves mastering the skills of creating fake images and social media content, creating pseudo environments and rendering them to seamlessly integrate with the existing media with regards to that particular location. The project is based on research related to tourism and social media industries, one of the most popular ones today. It dives into the impact of social media content and how it has achieved the power of making people believe fictional worlds. This verisimilitude was created over a few weeks, starting with case-studies and research and extending up to actually deploying the fiction into real-world scenarios. The takeaway of this project is to understand how such fictions can be created and used for multiple motives including fame, money and disruption of a widespread industry. This book represents our journey to hide seams as we produce fictions that are verisimilitudes.

CONTENTS 1.Fakery in Tourism

2.Case Studies

3.Introducing the Fiction

4.Propagating the Fiction

5.Process of making the Fiction

FAKERY IN TOURISM Looking for a way to ignite envy among your friends? Can’t bring yourself to talk openly about money in your social circle? Concerned that your social media followers might suspect you don’t spend all 24 hours of each and every day crushing it? This one easy trick can create the illusion that everything is just fine. Lying! “Fake Instagram influencers scammed hotels and restaurants into offering them paid sponsorships.”

Travel influencer admits to photoshopping clouds into her photos after being called out

Surveys Reveal Faking Vacations Is Already Quite Common In 2017, a survey by LearnVest shows more than 33 percent of men and 26 percent of women have posted faux vacation images on social media to make it appear as if they’re somewhere more expensive than they actually were. Overall, 30 percent of Americans reported doing the same, but the number spikes among millennials with 56 percent of the generation engaging in this particular behavior.

One of Instagram’s most stunning snaps are of Bali’s “Gates of Heaven” and its reflection on a clear body of water, making this photo hotspot look exceptionally out of this world. Most people don’t know that it is located at Pura Lempuyang Luhur in Karangasem regency, and are perhaps even fewer are aware that there is no water around this stunning split gate location. As Polina Marinova pointed out on Twitter, a man sits under a big umbrella, has an iPhone; he takes those ‘classic photos’ by placing a mirror underneath his phone to create the water-like refIection; hence, the stunning images of #gateofheaven! It doesn’t make the place any less gorgeous or stunning, but this revelation has shattered the image of Gates If heaven that’s been so popularized on social media. A long queue of tourists can be seen fIocking around the temple just to get that perfect click. What’s more disappointing is that some of these people are least interested in exploring the temple or knowing more about the place; instead, they spend hours standing in line to get a picture just like those thousands on social media.

WHERE IS THE WATER?

THE PERFECT WEDDING SHOT The big day isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes, it’s more torrential rain and puddles. The wedding photoshoots have become “the thing” for everyone these days. The bride and groom are the muse and the possibilities are endless.

The picture has been viewed a million times across the internet, but it is only after one sees the shot behind the scenes that they understand how they were tricked into believing that the photo was real. The picture is taken by lying flat on the ground (almost in the puddle) to achieve the dramatic scale and the long realistic shadows. The photographer makes a moody sky out of a dull day, transform any puddle into a magical lake, and add drama to cornfields. The change in perspective, the strong sky and contrast help viewers to get tricked into believing the fiction.

This picture shows an extremely dramatic shot of the couple at a barn with a mystique reflection. The photo is clicked in front of a muddy puddle at a messy barn. What makes this picture believable are the proportions and reflections. The reflections are nearly perfect but also a wee bit messy, which makes one think they are real. The location of the photoshoot is set in a domestic barn with no recognisable or unique elements, not invoking any suspicion. The edge of the puddle has been consciously avoided which makes the viewer think as if it was a lake spanning the barn. The retouches make the viewers believe that these images capture the romance of the couple subjecting them everyone’s awe and amusement.

FROZEN VENICE It’s not that the canals of Venice never freeze — it’s a rare occurrence but it has been known to happen, once in 1929 and not after that. This picture is actually a mash-up of a photo of Venice’s Grand Canal (original source and date unknown) and a photo of ice on Lake Baikal in Russia posted by Daniel Kordan in 2013.

considerations actually act as helpers to make people believe that the phenomenon is true. What marks the blurry line between reality and unreality is the color of the water. Venice Canal is a very famous destination and has been photographed numerous times by not only renowned artists but also commoners. The bright blue water in this picture doesn’t quite seem like water in a canal. Another factor is the quality of light – the light quality in the picture does not align with the light quality in Europe during the winter season. These factors make one ponder about the picture and as one keeps looking at it for more and more time, they might be led to suspect the reality of the picture.

What makes this fiction believable is the fact that the canal had almost frozen once in history. This fact makes people feel that the phenomenon is plausible. Another fact is that this fiction demonstrates the very obvious feature of the Venice canal – the water in a frozen state. The human mind immediately associates water when they think about Venice Canal. The artist has rightly chosen this very feature and associated it with in the right season in order to create the fiction. The fiction has been made believable to the public considering various factors like location, season,

MAKING OF THE IMAGE

Select two images that need to be overlayed

The opacity of dome is reduced by half

Select two images that need to be overlayed

THE FORGOTTEN TEMPLE OF LYSISTRATA IN PORTUGAL The image gained some serious traction amongst wanderlusts who added this forgotten temple of Lysistarata in Portugal to their bucket list, keeping travel loving users and millennials busy arguing whether the location of the temple lays in Portugal or Greece. But what is the secret of the forgotten temple? It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t exist!

But what brings the image under scrutiny? The scale of the built structure is enormous compared to the human in the picture. It makes us question if there were appropriate tools and techniques available at the time to execute such monumental structures on the surface that is as soft as sand by the beach. Also, understanding the natural light falling on the sand versus the shadow formed by the light falling on the coffered dome, brings into debate which is real. The Pantheon is a historically well known and studied piece of architecture which is a very famous destination for people from all over the world, making it recognisable. These factors bring into light the different fake realities in the image.

The image was created by photoshopping a combination of the Pantheon in Rome with the famous image of the Benagil Cave in Algarve, Portugal. What makes this picture believable is the texture of the coffered concrete dome perfecting nesting in the natural rock, complemented by the oculus at the apex. The chiselled edges add to the aesthetic of the ruins. People have always been fascinated with exploring fallen temples and ruined artefacts, so an image about a mysterious fallen temple by the beach generates excitement and curiosity, making viewers wanting to believe

Overlayed image is then wrapped and skewed

ON THE ROCKS Anacapa Island is a small volcanic island located about 11 miles off the coast of Port Hueneme, California, in Ventura County, United States of America. Anacapa was formed by volcanic eruptions between 19 and 15 million years ago. They provides critical habitat for seabirds and pinnipeds The perfect climate This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F. The perfect vacation This cluster of islands is aimed to give a relaxing zone for the stressed contemporary working mindset. The access to the private island rock house will be only via boats, and as you cruise through the serene waters, you will see yourself surrounded by many pristine island rocks and lush green backdrops. Forget all your worries, by sipping wine and enjoying the unfiltered sounds of nature.

Rocks Near Arch Rock near East Anacapa Island 34° 0’56.02”N 119°21’34.94”W

MAKING THE ENVIRONMENT

ENVIRONME BRIEF TRIAL

ENT C4D L

PROPAGATING THE FICTION

WEBSITE

YOUTUBE

TRAVEL BLOG

ARCHITECTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S PAGE

INSTAGRAM

What’s the best time to post on instagram? Best times to post: Wednesday at 11 a.m. and Friday at 10–11 a.m. Best day: Wednesday is the overall best day Most consistent engagement: Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m–3 p.m. Worst day: Sunday receives the least amount of engagement on Instagram Lowest engagement: Occurs during late night and early morning from 11 p.m.–3 a.m.

Does posting at a specific time yield more likes? The best time to post: Friday at 9 a.m. Most consistent engagement: Wednesday through Friday from 8 a.m–4 p.m. There’s also a period of higher engagement that lasts all the way through Thursday night into Friday morning. It’s lower than the highest peak times, but it could be a unique time to capture audiences that aren’t active in other industries’ niches. Lowest engagement: Saturday and Sunday have the least engagement for media companies on Instagram.

The traveltrails instagram page used as a platform to deploy the fiction. Many images from various travellers used to build up the page before deploying the actual fictional images. Various parameters analysed and noted based on research related to the appropriate time for posting content on social media. Fake images sometimes earned more likes than real shots posted simultaneously !

MAKING OF THE IMAGE 29

BUILDING THE FICTION

MAKING OF THE IMAGE 33

MAKING OF THE IMAGE 35

SATELLITE IMAGE View from the Island

IMAGE_1 View from the Island

IMAGE_2 View from a boat

IMAGE_3 View from a boat

IMAGE_4 View from a balcony