To be fluid is to be unfixed or malleable. Fluidity denotes something of indiscriminate form that is both changeable and adaptable by external influence. Our group thereby believes gender fluidity or neutrality should be defined by these same constructs, or, lack of constructs. Understanding and comprehension of gender fluidity are the most pertinent matters to address within this documentary as this often seems to be most individuals’ issue. Whilst this is a highly political idea, our focus will be on poetics and symbolism; intending to remind our audience of their pre-held understanding of fluidity and then apply this to the concept of gender. By projecting what we and others perceive as inherently neutral or fluid coupled with varying shots of personal accounts and anecdotes our group believes we can both educate individuals on gender fluidity, but also illustrate how this less of an abstract idea than they may have initially thought. Aesthetically, our group intends to illustrate our contention through fluid and flowing shots, nonliteral imagery and voiceover with a harmonised or androgynous music score.
In the found footage documentary our group would like to show the cycle of global production. The supply, the demand, and the production companies themselves. Essentially showing how particular ‘glossy’ advertisements from certain companies (Apple, Sony, Microsoft ect.) can lead to mass demand, thereby causing places like Foxconn to exist. Our group doesn’t intend to tarnish the names of any particular brand, rather, make the audience reflect on their own habits and understand the impact of buying one product can be. This also offers an interesting contrast to our Social Studio documentary as, in this film, we intend to show the positive effect this ethical production studio can have and our found footage intents to illustrate the negatives of global consumerism and production.
Our group has decided to start by creating some example footage of what we wish to show in our final found footage film. In this we would like to demonstrate the editing style we would like to exhibit whilst also demonstrating the type of footage we wish to source. I wish to create a video that highlights the clear dichotomy between Apple’s advertising (what they wish us to see) and the impact that this form of production can have on the world at large — particularly the production companies in China. These will be rough examples but will help to cement what we actually wish to exhibit in our final film. I believe the film has shown the contrast between what apple wants to show and what they don’t, but I do believe these contrasts are, at times, a little obvious.
AOP PROJECT BRIEF 3
oppression
– Feminism
– LGBTQ
– racism
– Workers rights (fashion industry, pay)
– homeless
drugs
displacement
- homeless people
- asylum seekers
- school/institution
- mental health
power
- news
- capitalism
- Apple (planned obsolescence)
- consumerism
- politics
- police/PSO/ticket
- celebrity/cultural influence
- safe schools
restrictions
- privacy (government policies)
- social media
- drugs
- gay marriage
- lock out (Sydney)
- education
- piracy
- fashion (local design, fast fashion)
- opp shop
- local
the hungry beast
COSUMERISM
FASHION – WORKERS RIGHTS, REPRODUCTIONS, INDIVIDUALITY, STYLE, HIPSTER/ALT CULTURE (APPLE). NICHE SELLS
CORPERATIONS
Social studio
Our group hopes that the first film can consist of clothing being produced at the ‘Social Studio’ in Brunswick. The Social Studio creates clothing at the store as a form of creative expression and exhibition. Using close ups of various components of construction we believe we can exhibit the unique and intricate nature of the ‘Social Studio’s’ production. Accompanying this with atmospheric footage of both the store and it’s surroundings we believe we can illustrate the quintessentially ‘local’ element of this production studio. While editing we believe it could be interesting to perhaps slow the footage down at certain times to further emphasise this nature of production. We also believe the documentary should have a soft and relaxing element to the aesthetic as to not clash with the calming nature of the production itself. The social studio footage will be filmed using a hand-held camera as will suit the artistic and relaxed quality of the social studio.
Apple
In this video our group hope to illustrate the global and cultural impact of Apple production. Conceptually and technically our group believes this would create an aesthetic antithesis to the Social Studio video. We believe by putting these two films side by side we can demonstrate the polarised nature of these productions along with the effect they have on their community or the world. Apple, unlike the social studio has a pre-prescribed image and aesthetic: modern, sleek and chrome are some words that come to mind when we consider Apple. We would like to capture this quintessential Apple aesthetic within our 3 minute video by using found footage of apple releases, advertisements and other media. We would also like to contrast these images with ones like the news report we witnessed to illustrate how Apple is a world-wide production and how this can have both a negative and positive effects. To be able to illustrate all this within 3 minutes, our footage will inevitably come across in a relatively rapid manner, whilst this form of editing may sit at odds with Apple’s sleek quality we believe it’ll show the rapid nature of the companies expansion and perhaps give a less ‘Apple’ view of the company.
Reflective Portfolio #2
project brief #3 thoughts
Reflective portfolio #4
Presenting & Critiquing
Reflective portfolio #3
The three months of this semester have been truly enlightening. Learning and creating individually and collaboratively offered a wonderfully dynamic and engaging working environment that both helped develop new skills and also created a close and supportive cohort. Albeit the obvious, the main thing to take away from this semester is the ability to create media. Starting with a non-graded project allowed students to find their footing, whilst also illustrating the general composition of further project briefs. What was produced in aforementioned project to what is being produced now is night-and-day in quality. Staying very much on the safe side in the first few weeks didn’t allow for much creativity, rather, I simply followed criteria. As the semester continued however, inevitably more risks were taken as the process of filming and editing became far less intimidating. This improvement led perfectly to the collaboration process, which, for myself, was the most edifying experience in the course. It was the perfect forum to learn from peers whilst was also very beneficial for us as media practitioners — becoming accountable to others rather than just yourself.
The start of the semester saw me frantically attempting to make copious notes on the lectures, never fully engaging with the content. As the semester continued however, I began to allow myself to absorb what was taught, engaging as opposed to simply writing. It was this moment that the content began to click for me. I began to recap the lectures in my reflective portfolios, which were key to my understanding of the content. I felt, at times, I was lazy with the blog posts, dot pointing and skimming content, perhaps overwhelmed by the amount of writing I had to undertake throughout the semester. My organisational skills were pivotal to my learning process, leaving things to the last minute was something I quickly changed, and once I did the quality of what was being produced soon improved. The environment of the tutorials was very conducive to engaging with and learning the content for the semester; it was reassuring to know my peers were facing the same struggles I was.
The most challenging aspect of this course, for me, was time control. I struggled many times to keep up with the content and finishing all areas to a degree in which I was satisfied. The blog posts, unfortunately, felt the brunt throughout busier weeks. I struggled to write quality posts as the weeks continued; my strongest posts were, surprising, earlier in the course. Another aspect of the course I struggled in was pushing myself. I felt I could have experimented at times with different media and technologies to produce greater pieces of work. That being said however, the collaborating process really enlightened me about new and interesting forms of editing and filming.
Throughout this semester I have learnt that it is okay to take risks as challenging yourself is inevitable for improvement and growth in the duration of the course. I have also realised I can be creative and innovative with the right resources and time allotted. Ultimately, this semester has illustrated my ability to create and think differently and originally either individually or collaboratively.
Much the same as the last couple weeks. This week I focused on finding some found footage to include in our project brief to add some drama.
https://archive.org/details/Zeynelabidin-BESTEGYPTRevolutionNasheedVideo302
The beginning of this sequence was something that I thought may be an interesting avenue as it is quick paced and instantly makes you want to engage with the content. This video illustrates the power of editing, something that our group has just started to undertake. Not having much experience regarding editing this it is a very interesting aspect of our project brief. Other members in my group seem to understand the editing process far better than myself, which is a great thing — being able to learn from my team members. Some sequences I have found become far less awkward after editing, which was one of my major concerns coming into this project brief. I am very satisfied with how our group project has been coming along, I feel we were able to explore all our ideas, I also feel there was very even contribution throughout the process of creation.
