This week we were asked to give feedback on ourselves; serving as a means of reflections on our perceived progression throughout the semester.

I’ve really enjoyed this course and the Media 1 classes.
While I’ve had varying work commitments that have encroached on my abilities to attend every class, I’ve been really impressed with the fundamentals that are applicable to all my other subjects.
It’s difficult to find a course that is true to its claim from the very beginning – it has been a challenge and a delight.

Learning how to use software that I never allowed myself the time to try and giving me the push that I needed to launch myself back into video.
Having always taken little snippets here and there, being the girl who has received her fair share of eye rolls when I take out the camera, it has been nice to get back into it.
Working with a lot of different people has been a challenge, mostly because of age and experience levels but it’s the same within each industry.
Where I don’t know something, another person will make up for it and vice versa.

Overall, I think that my growth has been gradual, dipping in certain areas, technologically speaking. Although, I’ve found the adobe systems to be somewhat intuitive and because I’m a lightroom and photoshop user, they’re much the same across the board.

Good times – here’s my multi-coloured graph:

This week, we got into groups to lay some tracks for the foundations of a composed recording.
Focusing on attention, we were to create a narrative compiling various sounds on the zoom recorders that Brian provided in class.

I thought about myself as a means of figuring out a possible story.
I know that when I wake up, the first thing I do is convince myself that I’m only checking my phone just to check the time.
Lies!
I’ve got an alarm, I know I haven’t missed a beat if I’ve risen prematurely.
Instead, I try not to think about the notifications, which inevitably leads to my innards twisting and knotting around each other, until I’ve given myself a stroke.
I’m convinced a past episode of ignoring notifications is the sole reason for one of my eyes being slightly smaller than the other.

Anyway, our lives are unfortunately structured around our phones and what notifications and recognition we’re receiving from others – it’s sad but it’s a fact.
We made a recording about the rituals of the everyday girl on her way to her Media 1 class.
This is my version of the compiled sounds.

Please, give it your fullest attention.

I can’t say that I was shocked to learnt that there were 6 devices per household.
6.4, to be exact – I’m not sure what the .4 would encompass but it’s shocking that it’s not shocking news, y’know?

Guest lecturer, Dr Ramon Lobato came in to talk to us as a group today about Netflix and media streaming.
In his book, Shadow Economies of Cinema, Lobato argues that ‘the pirate networks should be viewed as part of an informal, rather than criminal, economy.’

As someone who doesn’t have pay tv, nor watch much for that matter, I’ve not really experienced recommended viewing, other than by friends, who know me.
Netflix, as I understand it, uses algorithmic means of deduction based on your viewing habits; no wonder 25% of Australian subscribe to it.
I’ve only really experienced music stations recommending me music; Pandora, Soundcloud and whatever that other station is – something else music related. Spotify!

With Netflix, it does the same, which is great – it helps guide people to shows or movies that they may have otherwise not have been aware of.
It helps generate an interest and I hear that you can share Netflix accounts too?
All I know is that a friend of mine offered to share his with me but I’ve no idea how it works but I’m pretty excited and also terrified that I may never be seen in the public sphere again.
Pray for me.

“Some claim that users are now in charge and celebrate their newfound ability to control the media environment. They see the death of hit-driven culture and the birth of a cultural democracy that is no longer dominated by commercial interests… [Others] fear that digital media are eroding the common cultural forum of mass media and promoting social polarization.”- James G Webster

An article on public broadcasting, with a particular interest in the ABC, states that while public broadcasting, namely the ABC some 20 odd year ago had a larger budget of 20m, it produced only a fraction of the content of today.
The ABC doesn’t have any where near as many employees, a much smaller budget, yet it spans across a much larger spectrum.
Some 40 years ago, Senator Jim Callelland, as Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on broadcasting once referred to the ABC as “a dithering, timid, old fuddy duddy”.
‘Today’s ABC consists of four television networks, five radio networks and more on digital. A host of online services and sites including ABC iview.’
Shifting to digital has been a costly necessity, ABC News 24, iview having come into being without a cent spent by the taxpayer.
It’s a very costly and cumbersome aspect of broadcasting, keeping up with the shifts and changes like additional stations and offerings such as Netflix.
We’re not exactly suffering over here as a result of pay TV though – we’re embracing it while still enjoying public broadcasting, otherwise we wouldn’t have so many more channels, would we?

So, in regards to piracy, will it effect quality of media produced?
Jonathan Rose (IP litigator) says that “piracy in TV and film is not new and many producers expect to experience shrinkage due to the practice. “So salaries may already be lower than they would be but for pirating, and the workforce in certain industry segments may be smaller than it would be but for pirating.”

At most, I like a little streaming here and there to keep me going on a cold night or while I’m painting my nails, or procrastinating when I should be working or finishing projects.
We’re all guilty of it one way or another and in any case, it creates a level of competition, thus the rise of more pay TV stations that have much more engaging and obscure content.

Happy watching!

What’s the deal with piracy though?
Piracy is essentially the backlash against pricing of content that doesn’t match up to average societal wages, thus forcing it underground. For a lot of people, it’s just another way to make a living.
I myself have never bought a pirated dvd but I’m still a pirate as I navigate my way through the seas of online content and stream Seinfeld online. It’s my go to.

Can I just ask though, why is that YouTube link not piracy? Is it because it hasn’t showed you the full progression of the show? Why should that matter?
It’s still someone else’s IP, the jokes, the acting, the content as a whole?

I’m not sure where I’m going with this because I like being a pirate – I think there’s also something very devious about it too. I think that and the monetary aspect is another reason people continue to do it.
The cost of living grows too high for us all to keep up with, so we love to kick back at the end of the day with a little something for US – if that means we’re streaming something illegally, so be it. Pour me another glass of red.

However, if I turn the argument around and seat myself on the opposing end, I’m now impacted as a ‘media maker’ or an artist who has created something and I’m no longer receiving any remuneration for my efforts, arduous or not.

For some reason I was just reminded of an episode in Seinfeld wherein Jerry is robbed.
Just before the police officer leaves his house, he asks him if the cops have ever found any stolen goods, to which the officer replies, no.
They cut to his stand-up where he talks about how easy Batman had it – all the characters go to the effort of having costumes, while looking wretchedly evil.
I think that if you’re going to be a pirate, at least dress the part and be open about the fact that you’re doing something wrong to make things a little more interesting.

I may start wearing an eye-patch from now on.
Who needs depth perception anyway.

Google defines perspective as:
‘the art of representing three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional surface so as to give the right impression of their height, width, depth, and position in relation to each other.’

While, Rory Sutherland describes perspective as ‘re-branding’, which I find interesting.

Using the analogy of ‘someone who stands looking outside a window at a drinks party, is thought of as antisocial. Whereas, someone starting outside a window at a drinks party with a cigarette is a fucking philisopher.’ – could not be truer.
Why though?
I’m of course taking this in its most literal sense, interested in perspective, rather than the sonic references in the reading this week.

We all have a varying perspective on topics, life, meaning etc.. that’s why we interview people, right? We want to get their perspective because it may aid others in their own perspective and respective lives.

I thought it might be nice to finish on this last video as it ties in nicely a single shot sequence that was referenced in a class earlier in the semester. Apple, of course, executes it seamlessly and the sound isn’t too bad either.

After having heard from Kyla the day before, the readings that I did the evening before the workshop helped create more of a synergy, as the world of sound, strange as it may be to ‘hear’/read, I didn’t think much about it.
At least, not much before this course.
Perspective, lo-fi and hi-fi sounds were something that I had never really thought much about.
Sure, I listen to music a lot and I can’t imagine a life without it but the varying frequencies, while referenced a lot, didn’t really interest me enough to follow on with any sort of inspection.
My interest in perspective stems from the visual aspects, as sound waves are intangible, I find comfort in the haptic, enhanced and inspired by wavelengths and these frequencies that dance upon the air.

Immersion was another interesting one. I’d not ever thought of there to be an opposite to perspective but I suppose there’s an opposite to everything, right?

Kyla Brettle ran the radio show this week in our lectorial.
Having worked in radio production, she was a sound guru.

You can always get a sense of someone who works in a particular discipline (sometimes).
It was clear after Kyla’s introduction that she worked in radio.
She was eloquent, succinct and because of the nature of her work, audio documentaries and voice production and background in music, she was well and truly ‘in tune’.

Kyla showed us various recordings, each resonated in their own way, all very personal.
A women recounted a traumatic experience, a recording of the development of the same voice as a baby, through to a young adult ‘discovering boys’, sound bytes of ‘um’s’ organised to create a motif.
One of the more visceral of her examples was the dismembering of a chicken – gross but interesting.

She named the types of shots that she creates to bring a visual element to her audio work; spot and tracking shots, transitions, trail-offs,  reverbs, the speed in which sound is captured or manipulated and mixed, the way in which she organises her atmosphere in order to evoke feelings in her listeners.

Kyla informed us all that Brian was unable to make our session today because of their unwell child.
Hope your little bubba feels better soon.

This week was an introduction to podcasts for me.
Oddly so, as my mum is a radio producer and I’ve spent my entire life around the teledubs, the studio’s, watching her on location, working at her various voice-over jobs etc.. I’ve just known sound but I don’t really listen to the radio, nor have I sought out podcasts.
For me, I’ve struggled to listen to something without visuals.
I’m a visual person.
I crave it.
It conjures a feeling for me and in that development it creates music for me.
Probably sounds a little lame but for me, it’s my way.

I like to take video snippets and overlay music that the clip evokes, or create an effect that is completely different, jarring, whatever.
A friend of mine introduced me to podcasts by Ricky Gervais a few years ago.
He would discuss and ridicule a friend of his with Stephen Merchant
I find them rather amusing and have re-visited them from time to time.
Before that, I had used Pandora. Mostly for comedy.
Walking down the street with headphones in and chuckling to myself over a politically incorrect joke categorises me as the ‘strange girl who laughs’ on my street.
I was actually labelled that way once by the local store owner one day as I went in for a sourdough.

I’ve also noticed that after the portrait interviews, I’ve been a little more attentive to sound.
As my grandparents have been ageing, I’ve asked if I could record them. Met with confusion, ‘what for?’
Old school Austrian’s, wretchedly modest – their lives are worth documenting, I tell them.
Furrowed brows and the waving of their hands, brushing their accomplishments aside, I’m not deterred.
I’ll be back in a couple weeks with my recorder.

Colour me inspired.

We watched a few video portraits this week in class; was great to see the content that others had decided to discuss.
The subjects ranged from gender fluidity to doctorates in biology, farming and pop culture.
What people chose to discuss was interesting and I paid close attention to sound. Most were really great in terms of quality and I later found out in the lecture that I had obviously missed out on a workshop that covered the technical aspects to creating a clean sound pattern, minimal noise and interference.

I had a giggle to myself at the thought of my film being played and hearing the jarring effects that I’d created.
Maybe I should have written that it was deliberate..
Next time.

Groups were assigned and aforementioned fears of group work were quashed as the people in my circle were actually reasonable people and we all took to figuring out what we wanted to discuss.
Media. What is it?
How does it grab our attention?
We swashed the word around, taking to a brainstorm and settled on television and more specifically, Game of Thrones.
How does Game of Thrones captivate us?
What is it about the show that engages us and keeps our attention?

We divided the topics surrounding the aspects that come together that create a piece of media and decided to take off and find what information we could.
Our game plan was to find what we could the earlier we could, in the off-chance that we couldn’t find any information and needed to re-think things.

So far so good!

This week’s lectorial focused on what it means to work collaboratively.

Just type in ‘group work meme’ into Google‘s search bar and click on images…

No one is a stranger to group work; if you’ve lived, you’ve been involved in something collaborative.
Life is a collaborative effort.
You’re never going to get anywhere if you don’t learn to work with others.
Learning to talk to people, relaying your thoughts and findings, then working together in harmony is definitely a dificult task.

Working as a photographer is more or less a solitary job.
That is, when you’re developing concepts, banging your head on the wall trying to differentiate yourself from others, banging other people’s heads against walls when they ‘steal’ your concepts (and do them better than you) scanning Pinterest, editing photos etc..
Otherwise it’s a very sociable gig, depending on your subject matter of course but mostly if you want to get better, you’re going to need to work with people at some point.
For me, that meant networking.
I did that over various platforms; Instagram, Facebook, I even used a Tinder account to find people to pose for me (it’s actually really useful).
I attended photography meets and met the people in the industry in person, or I contacted people whom I admired and asked if I could shadow them, spend time seeing how they worked – whatever your jam.
They had a team of people around them, artists in their own right; make-up, hair, styling, designers.. and the photographer has to be able to coordinate them all.
If the photog has an assistant, then they need to know how to coordinate too – so, the more opportunities I took, the easier it became to gel with others, especially models/subjects.

Learning how to delicately and diplomatically deal with different people is something that comes through practice and exposure – try and try to increase your chances of succeeding.
Research your area of focus, learn the lingo and tattoo the information to your brain and recall it when you’re going for a job, meeting someone new or just because you’re solely setting yourself up for future pub trivia.
Just make like a sponge and absorb.

Now, I’m not going to sit back and pretend like I’m the Great Kahuna of collaboration – no.
I can talk to people and I can and do enjoy working in (certain) groups but if you refer to aforementioned Google search, you’ll have to beg my pardon when I say that group work at uni usually sucks.
Signing contracts and alerting everyone in the group at the beginning of an assignment of everything that is expected of them will only lay on the guilt at the time they’ve let you down but it changes nothing in the grand scheme.
Additionally, some people have actually been born without ‘guilt’ and FUN FACT, I’ve been grouped together with five of these anomalies in the past.
I’d also be a liar if I said that I have my shit together, ’cause I don’t half the time.
I’ve been trying to fake a personality disorder to my therapist for years trying to score a ‘learning disorder’ freebie for school to help with projects like this but it turns out she’s genuinely good at her job and I’ve been diagnosed with being a straight out liar. What’ya know!
Not really.
Or have I?
.. we’ll never know.

So, collaboration.
I’m all for it.
– I read somewhere ‘Collaboration is the future’ – a girl I know started a 3D printing jewellery company and this was her tag line. She oddly only works alone, so that part confused me but hey, maybe she has multiple personality disorder and she counts all of those as seperate entities.

I don’t even have a therapist but this spiel seems to be centred around mental disorders. It’s the flavour of the evening it seems.
The above statement also proves that I am in fact a liar.
We’ve come full circle.
I can only hope this got a smirk out of whoever reads this.

In conclusion, however you choose to roll, there’s team effort embedded somewhere.