David Morley (2005), Entry on ‘Audience’ in New Keywords: A Revised Vocabulary of Culture and Society, Ed. T.Bennett, L. Grossberg & M. Morris (Wiley-Blackwell), pp.8-10.

The brief piece on audiences discusses the evolution of what an audience meant and the theory regarding it, such as the effect media has on an audience and how it is consumed.

Morley writes how audience, as a word, has evolved from meaning the ‘action of hearing’ to its broader and expansive meaning, where it becomes ‘the idea of a group of people who are consumers of a communicative event’. He acknowledges its departure from addresses of a sermon, or speech to further encompass readers of a book and, eventually, to the consumers of all forms of communication.

He discusses the contemporary research into a number of aspects of audiences, such as audience research and ‘active audience theory’. He stresses how contemporary research differs from prior, where the audience is perceived as active, rather than passive, in their consumption of media.

There are parallels here which align with popular culture, where new media forms from the interaction, consumption and repurposing media. It is a useful piece as it acknowledges the importance the audience has in all forms of media and ultimately is the reason that media communications is an area for research and debate.

Hallin, D, Mancini, P 2004. Comparing Media Systems: Three Models of Media and Politics. Cambridge University Press.

A focus on traditional print media is highlighted throughout this book, where the purpose of newspapers is discussed in a range of countries. There is a major focus on Western Europe and the United States and attempts to identify variations between the role and the political power that newspapers encompass.

The book uses a wide range of statistics, such as number of newspapers sales, demographics, gender differences in reach and scope, and consumption, to analyse newspapers as a media institute. They generally conclude that there are strong connections between political systems and the media systems that are frequented in those countries, explaining that political characteristics are manifested more or less directly in media structures’. They acknowledge that media institutions, especially since the 1980s and increased globalisations, have homogenised and eroded variations amongst national media systems.

It was unlikely to be valuable for project brief 4 as there is a limited focus on both Australia and a range of media institutions. Our focus on a more modernised and local perspective of institutions did not make use of the information regarding newspapers and their focus in history.

DeRiddler, S 2015. Are Digital Media Institutions shaping youth’s intimate stories? Strategies and tactics in the social networking site Netlog. Ghent University, Belgium. New Media and Society.

This article published in Belgium analyses a local website Netlog, which is seemingly a low-scale and localised version of Facebook, with some elements aligned with a blogging website, such as MediaFactory. In particular, the article discusses how social network (and institutions) can provide a backdrop for story telling practice that ‘give meaning to sexuality, gender and relationships ad development a feminist and queer political critique’.

The main focus is how people, specifically youth, use these media institutions to be involved in an online community. Here, the media institutes provide the tools (text, pictures and videos) to allow users to engage in media and social communications.

Initially, our group had a focus on social media and their role as a media institute – as our focus shifted to ACMI and a local perspective in Melbourne, this information became increasingly irrelevant to the topic. It does provide an excellent perspective on the balance of business and social usage on internet forums and websites, drawing some parallels between Facebook and Twitter, for example.

The first group meeting was as successful as it probably could be. As the project has barely begun and nobody really understands what we are doing, we have just initially planned a few aspects.

We will focus on the ACMI institution with further emphasis on Melbourne Cinematheque. We will look at its role in preserving old forms of media and displaying it to the public in its original form. It helps to show a wide range of media, both older and contemporary.

Sound is an important aspect to film as it helps us further understand what is going on in a scene. It can help to draw your attention to certain moments and to clarify aspects of the film.

A film I watched this week, called Room 1408, used sound and silence quite effectively to create a scary atmosphere. There is a moment after he enters the room where he goes deaf. The film is totally silent for a moment as he starts to panic. This lack of sound is very jarring as earlier you could hear things in the room, his voice and the ambience outside the hotel room. Suddenly, sound is sharply brought back as the radio ‘magically’ turns on in a shocking fashion.

It is evident that sound can be used to show and explain parts of the film, but the lack of sound can also help to portray things, especially the unsettling and the unnatural. It is also a great tool for the audience to understand space and distance in a scene. You can picture how far an object or a person is by the loudness of the sound and the direction it comes from offscreen or onscreen.

It was a foolish mistake to watch Room 1804 late at night in the dark. It wasn’t the scariest film, but it did make me quite nervous about dying that night.

The acting was very strong, the dialogue in the manager’s office between Samuel L Jackson and Cusack was very engaging. The majority of the film only has one character in it; the way he engages with the audience through his recording device and his descent into sanity is very exciting.

The lighting, set design and the cinematography was definitely the strongest aspect of the film. The different angles used in the hotel room helped to convey how the character was feeling, using sharp angles and sudden cuts to create a suspenseful mood.

Although the ending and some parts of the plot, mainly the middle and towards the end, were not very enjoyable, it was an overall good experience and I would not watch it again. Slightly spooky.

Giving feedback is always difficult. Once again, we wear our magical coloured hats and help to apply appropriate comments.

Adrian Lapiz: the way he spoke of a relationship with him and his friend, rather than just asking questions to the subject was very interesting. The use of stock footage was well made. I felt it was dark at times and difficult for me to see, but on discussion it was intentional and used to convey him escaping a box.

Vanessa Wong: the interview and the ‘script’ was very well made, helped by the talking ability of Charlotte. The topics covered were very strong. The stock footage used, especially the the voice of Obama was very strong and helped to convey the message in the interview. The colour palette was very strong, using orange to match her hair. More stock footage and perhaps improved lighting. Though I did enjoy the message, it could definitely put off a more conservative viewer.

Matthew Duong: The overall interview was incredibly strong. I felt the focus on the dog was a very unique style that nobody else explored. The natural introduction felt very easy to watch. The symbolism in stock footage was incredibly strong, it helped to link to the concepts she talked about to the video. Perhaps choose a better room or microphone as some of the audio had a slight echo to it.

 

I think it is always difficult letting other people watch your work. Even if they appreciate it and respond well to it, I feel I often disregard that feedback entirely and think they will hate it.

For me, it is an embarrassing process, but of course I understand the need for others to critique and give feedback for whatever the task is.

I watched the trailer for this movie and it completely mesmerised me. Everything from the editing, to the music and the way the trailer was crafted was a beautiful experience.

I found myself watching the trailer so, so, so many times. I don’t really know what else to write about it. The music was definitely my favourite aspect.

I think the most successful part of my Project Brief was how the image flowed with the music. I chose to change shots at dips and lulls in the music. I think it helped to create a more emotional experience, especially compared to no music in the background.

The weakest part was the quantity of shots of the interviewee. There were difficulties in filming as I had to do a different subject at the last minute and it was difficult to acquire what I wanted. It was still a fun experience.

I, once again, have realised how time consuming, tedious and annoying video editing is. It is a long and arduous process. I much prefer writing and planning of the project, rather than putting it all together.

In the broader sense, I have learnt that I am not very fond of editing. Though, I do like sampling music and the decisions to what to put in a shot. Just not the physical editing.