It has been 365 days since Boko Hakam kidnapped 200 schoolgirls from Chibok, Nigeria. 365 days of disbelief and worry for the families of those stolen, and 365 days of sheer fear, torment and possible death of the girls. It is simply awful. Today many are critiquing the uselessness of the #BringBackOurGirls tag on social media, saying it has done nothing over this period of time to assist in find the girls and punish the perpetrators. However, I think it has been a great tool in opening up political discussion and raising awareness to the wider community whom are online.

I found this article by Ben Scott, that really illustrates the importance of hashtags in contributing to agenda setting and providing people pressure onto the government to take action.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/05/16/bringbackourgirls_a_defense_of_hashtag_activism.html

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/04/14/comment-i-was-19-when-i-had-my-first-case-black-guilt

In upcoming weeks, for not only Media, but also Cinema Studies and Pop Culture, I have group assessments. I am really looking forward to working with other people. Rachel’s talk in the Media lecture #6 got me thinking about the different obstacles I may have to overcome in order to complete a successful presentation. Through personal experience, Rachel explained the idea that those you are friends with may not always make the best people to work with. It was not a concept I had really thought about before as I assumed it must be easy to work with people you know well and like. I cannot say what will happen yet, but I would like to keep some of her strategies in mind.

1. Having clear objectives and setting goals

2. Good communication between team members

3. Consistency, in that people can trust that you will do as you say

4. Respecting your teams members

5. Supporting your team members and being there for one another

6. Responsibility in the work you do

7. Equitable with the sharing of the work load

Though the first half of lecture 6 was on a topic I have listened to not once, not twice but three times now.. I do believe it was still useful. Amy Saunders, the Media liaison librarian gave a talk on how to best use the RMIT library system to our advantage. I previously learnt the information in a Pop Culture lecture, but also went and did a library class in my spare time. I found that I was able to write this post whilst listening to her as everything sounded familiar and I looked up when I heard a piece of information that sounded different to what I previously learnt.

Mental note: “Film OR Moving Image” or “Film OR Motion picture” when researching.

Before the media lecture today I went to hire a camera with Kristian, Gianna and Steph. Originally we went so I that could teach Kristian about the camera and what he had missed out on in a previous tute. However, I ended up learning stuff as well. I learnt more about the microphone, menu settings and also solidified information I had learnt in class. I definitely felt that having others to learn with was beneficial as they filled gaps in information I had and it made the learning we did together fun. I am hoping, that with more practice of the equipment, I will gain that confidence that I felt I was lacking for brief 2.

Well, I hated presenting just as much as the last time…… Although I put a lot more effort into the second brief than the first, I was still not really that happy with the result. I think its nice (ugh, “nice”) in an aesthetic way, but I don’t think the essence of myself was really captured as I got more caught up on “changing perspectives” rather than ME. As Rachel mentioned, which I agree with, it seemed more a piece about things I like, rather than an introspective or informative one. She said the idea of change didn’t really come across and my message wasn’t clear, which I completely agree with and wrote in the 300 word section. I honestly think I lost the plot a little when I got super bored with the music I made. I became too frustrated trying to use Logic Proc and too obsessed with editing to music rather than thinking about the brief itself.

Originally I wanted to do something with all parts of my personality, fast cuts and upbeat music…But I was turned off the idea because I thought that I couldn’t make it “work”. In watching my class-mate’s pieces that were of this style I actually loved that it wasn’t super-perfect, it was kooky and it was them! I need to gain some confidence and try new things, without worrying about “perfection”and having experimentation as the goal. Onwards brief #3…..

Found this in my YouTube favourites from a long time ago. It is a short film on a man’s last moments with his dog, a dog that has bought absolute joy and love to his life. The beginning is a great example of how a clash in graphic matching (in editing) can be an effective way to tell a story. The contrast in cuts between the man riding his bike, of movement, and of his dog create interest, but continuity is still provided in the narration and music.

Any dog, or even pet, lover will find this to be a tear jerker.

‘Fig’ reflects a transformation in my perspective on life. In the past few years I have matured enormously. I have become more self-aware, no longer hating the freckles on my face or shape of my hands, as they are strong, functional and actually existent. I have noticed the beauty of the rain in its sound, not merely the cold, wet clothing it brings. I have learnt the importance of protecting the earth from diminishment. I have grown to appreciate my home. Once critical of my mum’s taste in interior style, I am now grateful to have an interior, a roof over my head. I no longer view the term ‘maturity’, as the boring, looming persona clutching to my back; it now represents clarity and calmness in my thoughts amongst chaos. It is about optimism, trying new things and pushing my boundaries, whether that is an action or a thought. I wanted to show things I have changed perspectives towards in my piece. A fig was chosen as the visual embodiment of this ideology as it is the most recent example I have of trying something new. I always thought I hated figs. Refused to try them. I never quite realised by not ever attempting to taste them, I was unknowingly stopping myself from enjoying something so delicious. Figuratively, ripeness [of a fig] may also be associated with maturity.

I did not expect viewers to recognize my film’s abstract intention so I envisioned them reading this text beforehand, but due to the nature of a blog, I could not always control what they experienced first. However, I did expect some feelings of warmth and nostalgia to be incited due to the quiet piano music. The audio was the biggest obstacle I believe. I originally wanted something with a beat [camping light sound at beginning] but mastering Logic Pro was hard in mere days. I came up with a piano tune on the spot instead. I would like to record it more professionally next time. The effect of this alteration was to change the mood of the music to a calmer, classic sound but also, unfortunately, a more generic one.

Rather than a linear narrative/montage style piece, I wanted to create short clips with sharp cuts in order to jar the viewer and allow them to concentrate on each image as it contrasted it’s prior counterpart. I did so through contrasting cuts and also the illusion of a jump cut [the images of the figs] though they were still images rather than footage. With other still images I also tried to allude to movement as I enjoy video. An example of this is the three photos of the hills that disappear with each transition to the next shot. I tried to make the dissolve between the similar shots as fluid as possible. I do wish I had attempted some graphic matching, but with the content filmed, I found it difficult. I would love to master it for brief three.

Last night I learnt some basic skills in Logic Pro X. “Basic” being the operative word. My boyfriend is studying music and offered to show me a few things to help me manipulate my sounds for the media brief #2. He chose to show me this program rather than Pro Tools (for a reason I cannot remember for the life of me, but it must have been important..) and as we got into it, I noticed that it seemed pretty similar to Final Cut Pro X, a program that I am familiar with, but only all the edits were of sounds rather than clips. The major difference was that I don’t have a great knowledge of music. I can play a little piano to get me by, but the technical side to sound quality got pretty overwhelming, fast. Too many buttons for one brain to handle. I’ve decided that I will need to keep it very basic for my next assessment as there’s too much to practice with, in only a few mere days. Back to iMovie and Garage-band land for me!