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Week 6 Reading

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This week’s reading was about psychologist Howard Garder’s introduction to five minds for the future for which he believes that these are the kind of minds that people should develop and will be needed in future to be successful. without equipping these minds, a person won’t be well equipped and won’t excel in a modern age.

The five mindsets that he talks about are the following:

  • The Disciplined Mind: be excelled in at least one approach of thinking.
  • The Synthesizing Mind: taking information from different sources, understanding it and distributing it amongst different people
  • The Creating Mind: putting up new ideas, conjuring a fresh way of thinking and concluding with unexpected resolutions.
  • The Respectful Mind: respects different groups of people, trying to understand others and work with them efficiently
  • The Ethical Mind: the one who is aware of own responsibilities and finds a way to work betterment for the society without being selfish.

Garder further comments on the how we appreciate science and technology but do not teach the scientific ways of thinking or even how to develop individuals creative capacity which is essential for continuing growth of science and technology. Without having any of the mentioned mindsets, individuals would be restricted to inferior assignments, making unwise decisions, being replaced by computers for not having that creative sense and not be worthy of respect.

I agree with Garder’s statement on the five mindsets. In today’s world we are consuming media on a regular basis and the trend will defiantly rise. It’s just that we would have to depend less on technology and more on learning values of five mindsets in order to succeed.

Weekly Reading- Week 5

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This weeks reading is “Finding Time in a Digital Age’ by Judy Wajcman. She explores how complex relationship has come between technology and time. Roughly hundred years ago, John Maynard Keynes, an economist predicted that as technology will grow, there will be more time to enjoy leisure. With technology, more work will be done by machines with high productivity and efficiency, but instead we have become busier than before. In the past, work used to be defined as a certain amount of time given and a certain code of conduct to follow, but with today’s technology, it has become more approachable and interactive that we just can’t ignore a single notification and thus have to respond to it. What were just work and personal life separate, has now become integrated into one life altogether, which brings to a question that I had in mind, how personal life has become? consider a smartphone, you have the accessibility to check emails and reply promptly, which results in constantly connected with work life.

Interesting point that was mentioned in the reading of a sociologist Juliet Schor in her work ‘Plentitude: The New Economics of True Wealth’ that she is against the long hour culture and over consumption, she says that we need to revalue our daily style and people tend to work too much, eat too quickly, socialize too little and don’t have enough sleep. I can relate to what she is saying because every day I travel from public transport and I notice that people are consistent with their interaction with their smartphone and thus there is a lack of confidence when approaching to people in real life interaction.

Although being optimistic, I do believe that technology is not all that bad, it does provide you with variations of how you want to approach the working style.

Weekly reading- Week 4

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This week’s reading was a chapter ‘The Clarity of The Craftsman’ from the book ‘So Good They Can’t Ignore You’ by Cal Newport. The author talks about two different mindsets for approaching work namely ‘passion mindset’ and ‘craftsman mindset’. Furthermore, the author discusses that the individual must focus on the ‘craftsman mindset’ which is what you can offer to the world rather than what world can offer you approach. The writer provides with motivational quotes and gives us an example of the musician who practiced at really early stage of his life and got so good at it that he was approached by a record company.

After reading this, I do agree what the writer says. In this industry, passion can only happen when you have mastered the craft. Having a passion for something can only happen once you get the obsessed feeling that you want to be the best at what you do. I’m passionate about documentary filmmaking and want to pursue my career in it. Instead of thinking about being the best there is, I should really be putting into practicing the craft so that I may end up at a top notch production house.

One of the key highlights in the reading were where he suggests ‘you put aside the question of whether your job is your true passion, and instead turn your focus toward becoming so good they can’t ignore you’ (p.39) and that don’t look at why people choose the craftsman mindset, but see how they deployed it.

Annotated Bibliography- Research Project part 2

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These are the two remaining bibliographies that I researched:

3, Rutherford, A. (2012). “Not Firing Arrows”: Multiplicity, Heterogeneity and the Future of Documentary: Interview with Amar Kanwar. asian cinema, 16(1), pp.117-124.

This article is an interview conducted by Anne Rutherford with a Delhi-based documentary filmmaker Amar Kanwar, whose documentary provokes a special magical connection with the audience, which is not seen in most of the documentaries. The articles is addressed towards students of media and documentary filmmaking. The filmmaker gives his views that about the film being an amazing medium which utilizes sound, image, and color and that you can do anything with it. It also gives an opportunity with experiencing different lives of subjects, getting different reactions from audiences around the world and also providing a variety in the filmmaking perspective. Amar points out that obsession is the key in order to engage with audience. This obsession leads to a certain mental state of mind for example when a dancer enters into that zone during an act, the audience feels the connection and this relationship changes between the two as they enter into that frame of mind. One interesting point to notice is that the filmmaker also gave his insights to future of storytelling, pondering on the notion that the documentary filmmakers are shifting towards shorter form of filmmaking, with the only purpose to satisfy their own research and furthermore creates new types of storytelling. 

The article has reasonable information and seems fit for our research purpose as the interview is from the industry practitioner itself and gives out the understanding of conventional documentary filmmaking, and also invokes to rework our own understanding of reality and the means of communicating.

 

4, Stoeltje, G. (2003). Light in Custody: Documentary Films, the Teach Act and the DMCA. Santa Clara Computer High Technology Law Journal, 20(4), pp.1075-1112.

The article outlines the legal issues that surrounds the licensing and distribution aspect of independent documentary films in the digital age. At current stage, documentaries are being distributed by small distributors mostly on VHS tapes, but as digital formats becomes affordable, the distributors will begin to convert the analog tapes into digital formats which also includes streaming or video on demand services. the author also informs that educational institutions are developing new teaching models like distance learning programs which can be accessed in digital form for student access. This article is addressed towards media regulators and students of documentary filmmaking. The author also discusses the technical details about current format and licensing practice, the economics of documentary practice, and the relationship of documentaries to the Fair Use Doctrine. One of the interesting features of the article is the short and long term licensing questions that are brought out by new laws and new technologies. Two bills namely the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and the Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act are also discussed in this article.

This article provides rational information regarding rules and regulation of distribution of documentaries. I believe that it is vital to know about these licensing issues as filmmaker and be aware of changing developments in these regulations to stay in the game. As technology progresses, laws will change by time too and does the platforms for delivering our content.

 

 

 

 

 

Week 3- Workforce

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This week’s reading ‘Work’ by Ramon Lobato and Julian Thomas explores the realms of work environment in today’s world as mostly the workers are doing freelance work. It can be a good thing and a bad thing too. With freelancing, the workers have the freedom to work at their own pace of time, freedom for creativity and enjoying a permeable boundary between work, private life and leisure, but the expense is the experience they have in their bag and that can only be possible by working with a company.

A professor from New York University Andrew Ross said in his work ‘No Collar: The Humane Workplace and its Hidden Costs’ (2003) that although many enjoy the benefits of ‘new economy’ like flexible hours and creative control, his respondents also faced issues like over work and exploitations. This exploitation of labour is also shown on mainstream media in HBO’s tv series ‘Girls’, where the character Hannah ‘captures the experience of many aspiring media workers with working lives full of uncertainty and (self) exploitation’ (p.75)

However couple of solutions have been proposed in the reading like call for formalization of workplace and recruitment practices, along with better and more extensive government regulation. Hesmondhalgh and Baker have also emphasised that there should be unionization and a basic guaranteed income as a means to reform and a commitment that an individual will not self exploit.

I believe that if you are wealthy enough, then you may join the workforce for experience purposes as you feel yourself exploited, but for people with lower income, this is an issue as they would have to find ways to feed themselves. As long you enjoy what you are doing, then I don’t think there should be a complaining to do. Where do I see myself in all this? I guess I’ll probably be freelancing in near future and enjoy the freedom that it offers.

Annotated Bibliography- Research Project

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Here is my annotations for our group project ‘Future of Documentary’

1, Mertes, C. (2007). Future Doc: The View from Sundance. [online] International Documentary Association. Available at: http://www.documentary.org/magazine/future-doc-view-sundance-novdez-2007 [Accessed 2 Aug. 2016].

The article outlines the challenges that documentary filmmakers face with commercially dominated media and audiences being disengaged from the message that these filmmakers initiate. The author is analytical as she argues that with the evolution of technology, how filmmakers have adapted themselves with the changes and how audiences have changed their viewing over time as well. This article is addressed towards the documentary filmmakers and academic researches of media and film field. The author also addresses on what if scenarios with regards to the future of documentary. Even though the article is 10 years old, Cara’s predictions are almost true to what she wrote like people wearing tiny cameras (action cameras) for recording and people not buying ticket to a film as theatrical distribution being morphed onto on-demand projection at any location and namely any device. the author also talks about audience being fed with consumerism and that filmmakers have to not only just raise awareness or entertain them, but also to create a culture of engagement.

The articles provides a useful rationale explaining the future of documentary filmmaking and its connectivity with the audience. Her findings are her own experiences as she is a director of documentary film program at Sundance institute. However I’m a bit concerned about her findings as they may be limited to what she has experienced in her surroundings or the films that are submitted at Sundance, That being said, her finding that documentary is filling the void left by the dying art of journalism is something to think about. This article is useful for our research topic as it gives a useful insight and provides a filmmakers perspective for our group’s objective.

2, Pyburn, R. (2016). How Emerging Technology is Shaping the Future of Documentary Filmmaking. [online] Whicker’s World Foundation. Available at: https://whickersworldfoundation.com/2016/03/how-emerging-technology-is-shaping-the-future-of-documentary-filmmaking/ [Accessed 2 Aug. 2016].

The article explores how innovations in technology is shaping the future of documentary filmmaking. The article suggests that the art of storytelling elements have remained the same but the technologies have evolved which are used as tools to tell the story. The article is addressed towards students of media. The article explains how Robert Flaherty’s ‘Nanook of the North’ was shoot with the innovative Akeley ‘pancake’ Camera which lasted for two decades after its creation which is unthinkable in today’s market as technology keeps on evolving and that if Flaherty would shoot a documentary today, he would only require a smartphone and portable audio recording equipment. The author also comments on new technologies is being used besides camera like drones for instance. As per their own investigation, 9% of filmmakers have used footage from drones and 18% have used action camera in their latest documentary. More importantly, the article talks about the role of viewers that could shift with the introduction of virtual reality as a platform to view as couple of filmmakers have made such documentaries and it seems that there will be more such in near future.

The article’s findings are reasoning enough as the author has conducted researches and surveys at macro scale, however when in surveys, there is no proof of whether the ones who filled it, did it with such intentions. Secondly no personal opinions can be heard and this survey technique is based more on quantitative rather than qualitative. This research is though useful as is provides supplementary information towards our research and potentially supports in capturing authentic storytelling as technologies develop.

3, MORTON, T, & PEARSON, M 2015, ‘1. Zones of silence’, Pacific Journalism Review, 21, 2, pp. 11-32, Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 2 August 2016.

4, Stoeltje, G. (2003). Light in Custody: Documentary Films, the Teach Act and the DMCA. Santa Clara Computer High Technology Law Journal, 20(4), pp.1075-1112.

Week 2- A World of Differences

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This week’s reading ‘A world of Differences’ by Chris Lederer and Megan Brownlow shares the view that there is an opportunity for electronic and media industry to grow and discusses its shifts that are occurring in five dimensions: demography, competition, consumption, geography, and business models.

The reading highlights the fact that E&M spending is growing more than GDP growth and that companies should be focusing on certain factors like studying patterns of youth as they consume more information than adults and they also adapt to changes easily. Which means that if more youth adapts to changes, there will be more digital spending and companies should have knowledge as to when the trends of youth will shift from one thing to another. Content is still strong but it has been redefined by forces of globalization and localization simultaneously. Much of the E&M industry is growing more global, but cultures and tastes in content remain steadfast local, for example, there are at least 100 international variations of the British- created quiz show ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’ and they succeeded in domestic markets heavily due to their local flavour.

One other thing to notice the other factor which cause local content to be more popular due government regulations like blocking entry of international companies, requiring a certain percentage of airtime to be dedicated to local market content, mandating government review and approval of content before content can be aired, and imposing different tax structures for local and international companies. Take China for example, it has blocked websites of U.S companies and limited amount of foreign films are released and yet their E&M market is robust. To tackle these sorts of issues, companies should try into getting partnerships with local ventures and then localizing content and comply with local regulations as well suit the local tastes.

I believe that world is definitely shifting to a quicker change and companies must be updated of the new challenges that they will face or else they’ll be left behind. This reminds of the exit of Nokia in 2014 in handset industry after being crushed by Samsung and Apple. This was due to the fact that they didn’t comply to the changes in market and consumer behaviour. So the message is simple for the E&M companies out there “If you don’t change, you shall be removed from the competition”.

Week 1- Megatrends, The Fourth Industrial Revolution

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It’s here, it’s actually happening at this moment when I’m typing this blog. The world has entered into a new era, an era where you absolutely solely rely on technology. This technology will change the way we communicate, work and associate. In the reading for this week, the author identifies this fourth industrial revolution into three different categories, physical, digital and biological. The thing that stood out most for me was the physical aspect. It has further four main manifestations namely autonomous vehicles, 3D printing, advanced robotics and new materials.

If I relate this new forthcoming revolution with my own example,  I’m actually thinking to buy a drone for my family farming business. It’s a huge land and with it’s help, It’s easier to navigate from top and in near future, it will ‘enable more precise and efficient use of fertilizers and water usage for the land.’ (P.15).

However, with facility to share and potential to improve quality life further, it is pertinent to mention the question of ethics involved in our personal and private. How private our life have become? Once it’s on the internet, it is there forever. Even though with innovative cloud networking employment system that Uber and AirBnB has done, it does provide flexible work flow but also exploits as their is loss of labour rights. Privacy is also a factor as once we know we are being watched, we  behave conservative and criticized. I believe the authority should launch parameter structures to broadcast ideologies, recruit followers and coordinate actions against or in spite of official government systems. 

Being a Media student and most likely looking for job after graduation, I’m hopeful that with the uprising of this fourth industrial revolution, it’ll create new industries and new job opportunities for us. All we need to do, is to be updated!

 

Extracts from Klaus Schwab, 2016, The Fourth Industrial Revolution (World Economic Forum), pp.14-26, 47-50, 67-73, 91-104.

FInal Reflection- Digital Director

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What a semester it has been! I just can’t believe that it has come to an end of a wonderful studio. At first I was allocated to a different studio but due to clash with my contextual, I was moved to Digital Director studio. At the start of the studio, it was kind of vague of what was this studio about and how will it go on. As we progressed we learned more about the usage of technology and crowdfunding for your projects, which I believe is vital for an emerging filmmaker or for any project. What I liked about the studio is that it kept on changing as we progressed and in the end all of us decided to work in a single project of a mockumentary based on university life. I was part of production team mainly handling the lightning aspect of the shooting and syncing audio in the editing. To my surprise, when the time came to character selection, almost no one volunteered, I always wanted to act in a project and said to myself ‘this is your chance’. I play part of Dorian Mathews, who is a dedicated student and loves to do assignments, or in uni life’s language, ‘Teacher’s Pet’.

Throughout the studio, there are lots of things I learned, but most importantly I learned how important communication is with the team and it is a collaborative effort and that everyone needs to put their effort in. More importantly, how hectic it is to be an actor. Starting of with the trailer, no one had any idea how to perform their individual roles, no one knew from where to begin. One other issue was time management as our original was to finish the whole production by end of week 12. I understand that even if it is frustrating, it is part of our learning curve and with these mistakes we did, we pushed them away and had a smooth running as we progressed further. As for my group mates, all of them were excellent in their respective jobs, and specially Nathaniel. He made sure that each of us were on the track and managed the time of the shooting with shorter but effective shot selection as we just had less than 3 hours to shoot for each episode.  Just one concern I had with this whole experience is that the management team were more involved in other groups work. I don’t blame it as few of us were inconsistent with the project. If they would have put some trust in us, then we would have had a smooth production going on.

With this studio, I think this is has been more practical than theoretical as what I thought before. I enjoyed it throughout and also, not only I learned about the my role in production, but I also got the chance to see how writing and social media team run things. As we depart from this studio, I’m taking Dorian Mathews with me!

Until we meet again.

Trailer Shoot

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In week 8, our priority was to shoot the trailer and the episode one but due to slow pacing in finalising the script and shot list weren’t online for us (production team) to decide what to do on thursday shooting, so all the planning happened was on that very shotting date. It took us about 30 minutes to set up the equipment (while also waiting for the rest of the cast and crew to show up). The whole shoot for the trailer happened during the class timing and we only could come up with just three shoots for episode one. It was a bit frustrating at first as continuously we were planning shoots as we were going along which consumed half of the time. Secondly, we forgot to attach Lapel microphone with the camera for which we were left behind with the schedule planned.

As we are going along with the project, we are learning from our mistakes as well. We have noted down our mistakes and for the next week shoot, we plan to shoot both episode one and two on thursday as we have made all the shot lists. One the plus side, the trailer turned out to be fantastic. This thursday is the trailer launch. I’m excited and nervous as I make a debut in acting!