Conceptualising

The medium was the message today as our time was spent analysing the historical progression in audio’s capture and dissemination.

Thanks to Gulielmo Marconi’s inadvertent intertextual homage to Benjamin Franklin’s maniacal yet world changing “old fart flying kite in the fields by himself” episode, long distance radio transmission was assumed to be possible.

Hurrah!

Hypothetically speaking, say, these two gentlemen, trans time and space, had a conversation about their life’s work, would the topic of discourse reveal dense scientific theorem, or, would it be more of a chest-beating psych-out stare-down season to determine who will win in the next kite  derby battle? Or, do you think that both men would be more interested in sharing advice about how to sustain a healthy relationship with their significant others considering their ‘don’t stop me, why the party’s just begun’ pastimes of flying kites? [Insert wind and cricket noises].

FullSizeRender

Our group brainstorm was ‘electric’ though we were on the wrong train.

 

 

Not Such An Avid Fan

Here’s the thing, I’ve spent 15 years working with Protools, they have always given me exactly what I need as far as audio design is concerned and never have I had a qualm… until now!

All I want to do, is install Protools software on my new laptop… software that I purchased several years ago, and Avid, the company that facilitates the program, are putting me through the ringer with licensing. I paid good money for this program so why are they being so damn cagey about their licensing agreements?

Does the proverb ‘the customer is always right’ not mean anything in this rapidly growing yet precocious digital industry?

The Avid caged beast has been let loose. Gnnaaaaarrrrrrr!!!!

Semester 2 Has Begun!

Getting straight into the the nuts and bolts of what to expect for the rest of the semester gave me the sense that we should emerge from this leisurely holiday gait and be prepared to hit the ground running.

Our tutor, Kyla Brettle, gave an informative speech on the concept of New Wave Radio, though, being an avid podcast listener, many of the points discussed were not so new to me, however, I had several light-bulb moments relating to the historical topics expressed by Kyla about radio’s progression through the years.

In class, we had the chance to practice our interviewing skills on a Zoom H4 recorder, preparing us for our first assignment. We were asked to buddy up with a fellow class member and interview them about their lives. I got the chance to interview Amy and Jarrod, though, I opted to focus on Amy’s story for the assignment… I didn’t mean to fob Jarrod off but I had already devised an idea for Amy’s self portrait.

Editing The Llamas on Protools

Editing The Llamas on Protools

P4 Class Feedback Links

To Yield’s Tin Llama’s P4 and personal reflection, please follow… 

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/daniel-bowden/p4/ 

“Class Feedback”

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/daniel-bowden/wp-admin/post.php?post=558&action=edit

“Wordle is Now In the Lexicon”

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/daniel-bowden/wp-admin/post.php?post=514&action=edit

“Group Appellation”

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/daniel-bowden/2015/05/06/group-appellation/

“My Paper Became a Medium When I Wrote On It”

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/daniel-bowden/2015/05/04/our-medium-is-paper/

“Closing In On the P4 Concept”

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/daniel-bowden/2015/04/27/closing-in-on-the-p4-concept/

I just have to say…

Pure genius!!

Please watch this P4 piece!

Well done folks!! LMAO!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBlbnXgL_UE&feature=iv&src_vid=VUHP7M3HKPI&annotation_id=annotation_1360284527

Dan’ s Final Blog

In this blog, I will discuss what I feel I have learned, how I learn, the challenges that emerged through the course and what I discovered about my own creative practice.

With the ever expanding digital universe, I feel it is imperative to keep up to date with all IT related mediums. From the moment I began constructing my blog page right up to this minute, I am learning new ways of navigation around online digital platforms. The necessity to remain digitally well groomed has brought upon new organisational skills; for example, Google Drive. This information ‘cloud’ model has opened up new opportunities for me already, for example, I have used Google Drive for other Uni subjects and spread the word to my peers who haven’t yet discovered this resource, and further to this, I now plan to implement it on a future production that I have been considered for.

My learning has also been extended through a conscious effort in calculating my personal media consumption. What this has revealed is that my media intake has evolved through the years, not only because of the available technology at hand, but due to my constant flux in desired platforms; for example, back when Facebook had its explosion in 2009, it was a primary tool for my media receiving and dissemination, but now, FB has receded in importance as my priorities have shifted.

Marshall McLuhan’s work has been a great discovery, since I read a passage in an art reference book about “the media being the message” this lightbulb moment has remained with me as a media metric. This notion is relevant to many contemporary examples and it is a testament to McLuhan’s prophetic foresight.

The way I learn is through repetition and association. Nowadays, I’m normally fine in remembering people’s names as I had struggled with this in the past therefore had to overcame this deficiency. To remember names, I repeat the aural sound of the name and then put an image or separate person to the face. Rhyming words have been useful when recalling names, for example, Mike is the guy who owns the bike, but even if Mike does not have a bike, I endeavour to remember him as ‘the bloke who could benefit from owning a bike’. Through  my time in the Media One course, I have had the opportunity to exercise these methods of learning and memory.

As classes and lectures can feel as though they are running at a breakneck pace sometimes, I often turn to my peers for there views, however I must remain aware that all advice should be received as a subjective remark rather than a factive statement.

I closely follow peer blogs to try to gain a clearer understanding of what was expected, though admittedly, I feel as though I have let this challenge get the better of me, I appreciate having the opportunity to implement this practice but I feel as though I may have fallen behind. It was however refreshing to have lecturer Dan insist that we scrawl a 15 minute stream of consciousness blog in a lectorial. I had conjured up some poignant thoughts about ‘the significants of dust’ though, WordPress (I’ll withhold the profanities that I used at the time) ‘checked-out’… it was an error that, had it been a person, was staring me in the eye with its middle finger raised, all the while blowing me disingenuous kisses. I was lucky to have had empathic friends sitting next to me whose work at some stage in the past had similarly failed to save ending up in a million pieces above the room.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) - Mel Stuart

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) – Mel Stuart

With regard to my own practice, chiefly audio, I have been fascinated by archaeological acousticians Trevor Cox and Rupert Till’s work in uncovering sophisticated acoustic methods employed by prehistorical humans. For me, this was conformation that societal preferences in communicative forms sometimes favoured quality over gratuitous hyperbole.

A Train Trip To Our Ancient Roots (2010)

A Train Trip To Our Ancient Roots (2010)

My 5 Curated Blogs

To Open…

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/daniel-bowden/2015/05/19/to-open/

This post talks about Walter Benjamin’s (Goethe University, Frankfurt) ideas on the effects of simulacra to the aura of an original piece of media. Having worked with many mediums throughout the years, it is interesting for me to discover that there are metrics related to the quality of reproduction. These metrics are pertinent in that we are often asked to draw relationships with what has gone before us and consider rebranding and repurposing of found media artefacts. An example of this can be seen in the found footage that we applied to our P3 project, I witnessed a notable expansion in my appreciation for some original ideas, Benjamin’s  ‘aura’ had been heightened in this instance.

Institutions 

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/daniel-bowden/2015/05/13/institutions/

Being somewhat left emotional raw after a conversation with my elderly grandmother on the subject of marriage, I felt compelled to post the story of our joint frustration with institutions. Both my Gran and myself conceded that our opposing values will never agree. As this debate is widespread in people of my age group, I believe that this could be a compelling premise for a production idea, perhaps a fiction narrative or a documentary style report.

The Giver and Receiver of Envy

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/daniel-bowden/2015/05/07/the-giver-and-receiver-of-envy/

On interacting with class peers, I noticed that there was a plague of playing down one’s own talents, which to me, seems detrimental not only to themselves but to Melbourne’s creative scene. Within the media, there needs to be a balance struck between, selling oneself stupid and not selling oneself short.

Soundscapes and Attention

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/daniel-bowden/2015/04/23/soundscapes-and-attention/

Since I was a child I have been fascinated by sound and the effects that it has on people and animals, I began producing my own noises and have naturally adhered to the following parameters; figure, ground and field, however, it is only now that, I can identify these parameters and harness their effectiveness further.

Flow and Heightened Consciousness

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/daniel-bowden/2015/04/02/flow-and-heightened-consciousness/

Keith Sawyer explored the group dynamics and deduced that group flow relied upon 10 points of attention. I expect that I will be continuously working in groups therefore regard Sawyer’s ideas as valuable tools for future use as a media practitioner.

Spellbound – Stream of Consciousness

“To paint with a finer brush”, that was something that my acting teacher constantly told us in class. Explore the minute detail in something small and seemingly insignificant, and make it huge for you.  For example, imagine the feel of a blanket that you got when you were a child and see if that brings up any dormant emotions, or think about shaving cream on your skin and how your pours react to it, one could concentrate on the joint of their little finger and feel how it reacts with the surrounding tendons. Now, the lights are up and curtain is drawn so. . . walk on stage and perform!

There is infinite power in the stillness that is produced from heightened concentration in a performer, as the mind is still and blank, the eyes are therefore relaxed the breathing regulated and the person is ultimately calm. The senses are heightened, reactions became honest and the viewer is able to fill in the action void with their own take on what the character is thinking and will eventually do. In relation to the points addressed in Daniel’s lecture, dust seems small and insignificant, however, if one thinks about it, dust holds many things; fibres of fabric, microscopic organisms, flakes of skin, hair, tiny minerals… and if you keep thinking about it, what shape are they? Are they spherical, slate shape, crystal shape, spiky? The variations are immeasurable! So, according to my teacher, after several hours of this sort of heightened concentration, you are now unshakable in front of a camera or a large audience. Having witnessed and experienced this for myself, I have developed a new sensitively for the power of insignificant detritus.

The dust can make you sneeze, the dust can impel you to wipe it off the bookshelf once in a while, but it can also turn a performance inside out and back to front and leave viewers spellbound.

THE GRAF THING

In class, I was handed a sheet of paper and asked to plot points on a graph to represent how I have progressed throughout Media One.

The variables related to; media objects & stories, working independently with tools & equipment, critical thinking and our understanding of the blog.

As I had expected, each of these variables increased gradually and consistently, there were no dramatic spikes aside from a slight increase in my understanding of the blogs, chiefly developed from observing my peer’s work and Geoff Lemon’s – a journalist from The Guardian.

I am looking forward to developing my critical thinking as I progress throughout the degree.

 

THE GRAF THING

The Graf Thing


 

The Blog Board