When my siblings and I were kids, we were undoubtedly a handful.
My dad worked around the clock, so it was my mum’s job to ensure my youngest sister was looked after, I was dropped off at kinder, my oldest sister was dropped at primary school and my brother was dropped in high school.
The car rides home were loud, as you can imagine. Four chatty kids all fighting to be heard over one another, each with our own stories about our days and our teachers and our friends, each urgently requiring our mother’s attention.
She was patient with us all, and listened tentatively to all of us jabber until we pulled into the driveway.
When we all got older, we asked where she found the tolerance to lend an ear to our bickering and anticlimactic stories, to the sounds that would fill the car and unequivocally give anyone a headache.
She smiled.
“It’s called selective hearing, I only hear what I want to hear”.
This weeks readings were focused on the element of sound in terms of communication.
According to Theo van Leeuwen, perspective in sound is divided into three positions: figure, ground and field.
Figure can be identified as the dominant sound, that which the audience or listener is the most likely to respond to.
Ground refers to the presence of sounds that are in the listener’s social space and are less relevant to Figure, however, are generally only recognised once they are absent.
Field sounds are positioned in the listeners physical, but are predominantly disregarded by the listener.
My understanding of this theory is best conceptualised by imagining a scenario whereby all positions of sound perception would be present. For example, two people are talking at a cafe on a busy street. The prominent and Figure sound would be the conversation occurring between the two people at a social distance. The Ground sounds could be the constant chatter of other people in the cafe, the clinking of coffee mugs or perhaps the hissing of steam from a coffee machine. Examples of Field sounds would include the rumble of various vehicles passing outside, or the distant wailing of police sirens, the slamming of doors being open and shut, or even the roar of music from car radios.
I think this is an interesting way of perceiving sound because it accounts for the sounds in our physical space that we habitually would not notice unless we consciously and premeditatedly paid attention to them.
For our second brief, we were tasked with compiling a series of different mediums into a 1 minute film as a digital portrait of ourselves.
I knew immediately that I would be out of my depth, as I had never worked with film before, and the task required a maximum of 2 video shots. As this was my first time utilising film as a medium, as well as editing via Premiere Pro CC, I know that there is plenty of room for improvement.
I have a distinct idea of who I am, and the most clear-cut thing about me is that I am difficult to define. I find it hard to describe myself, which becomes evident in my film. Instead of talking about myself, I asked my sister-in-law who she thinks I am and how she perceives me, and it is her voice that is layered beneath the other audio tracks. She’s known me since I was 4, and I feel that she has watched me grow up through the eyes of someone who couldn’t always be there, making her perception of me far more interesting.
The first audio clip that you hear is one of my favourite noises, the sound of the turntable needle dropping down onto the record. I’ve always found that anticipation and excitement so satisfying. I wanted the constant ticking of the clock to be part of the film without consuming it, mainly because I am such a time-conscious person, I constantly fear autonomy and wasting time.
The four still images are things that I personally hold close to me or find represent who I am: symbols and remnants of my late grandfather, street art, fruit infused tea, and my favourite fragrance, Flora by Gucci. These, I feel are my emblems.
As a very family oriented person, I wanted there to be something that represents the people who have made me who I am. The patriarch of my family, my Papa, even in his last weeks would remain as positive as emphysema keep you. Roughly translated from Sinhalese to English, he would persistently remind us that “even if the ship is sinking, the band will play on”. And in a lot of ways, that has been my motto.
Because even when things seem to the worst they can possibly be, there will always be a sweet symphony to embrace, a light at the end of the tunnel if you will.
Today marks the end of Week 3; 3 weeks since the beginning of the course, and 3 weeks since I became a full-time university student.
To say that these past three weeks have been overwhelming is an understatement, but the way I see it, when you love what you are studying, it’s hard to perceive it as a burden.
As an overview, these past three weeks have been focused exclusively on what exactly media is, and how we are affected by it and exposed to it through texts, advertising, social media platforms and such.
Media is overwhelming, and more often than not, it is easy to become engulfed by it due to our constant exposure. However, like a rip at the beach, we either can fight it and be weighed down by it, or we can relax and allow it to carry us into a world of communication and connectedness.
Brian defined Media in a way that really resonated with me; I can’t remember what it was exactly, but he proposed that Media is a place in a way, it is where we inhabit, we are made of Media.
Which makes a perfect circle back to Week 1’s Lectorial, a reminder that this, being tugged here and there by the media entity, must be the place.
Today’s workshop consisted majorly of me learning how to use Premiere Pro CC.
This is completely out of my depth as I have never really so practically worked with film before.
I like the idea of film, I like that you can capture so much more than a singular image or snapshot, you can capture an entire moment through this medium.
But with that comes a lot of room for error.
My comfort zone spans about as far as PhotoShop and InDesign CC, as my preferred field is print publication.
I’m learning that Premiere is quite similar to these, however it has it’s great differences which is honestly very intimidating.
I’m excited to see what I’ll be able to produce for my Project Brief 2, and hopefully I can reflect myself through mediums that I generally wouldn’t use.
This week’s reading was based around what media is and about taking a theoretical stance on the topic.
David Gauntlett, author of Making Media Studies: The Creativity Turn in Media and Cultural Studies (2015) discuss the two ends of the media spectrum: media for the purpose of expressing creativity and media for the purpose of surveillance and exploitation.
He poses the discussion that two evidently do not interconnect harmoniously.
I think that media for the sake of self expression or entertainment is a beautiful thing. It’s extraordinary when people such as the filmmakers, photographers, writers, editors and cinematographers of the world are able to put forth their expertise, knowledge and ideologies to produce something palpable that can connect with varieties of people. It’s integral that the makers of the world can use media as a platform, and perhaps I’m biased as a young media producer, but creative expression is such a key aspect of our identities.
Media has been given a bad name by the use of propaganda through the centuries, capitalism, and misrepresentation of particular groups in advertising.
Media is so much more than ads for beer during the breaks of footy matches, media is more than the magazines in waiting rooms.
Media is a means of communication, expression, and a way of life.
This week has thrust me into my own sense of self and left me questioning who I am and what I’m doing and why I’m here.
Last week we set 10 goals that we hope to achieve before completing our degree.
“Simply graduating” was at the top of my list. I desired nothing less than to see my parents brim with pride at the ceremony.
“Decide if Media is what I want to do with my life” was next. I wanted to be a journalist in Year 6 when I got an A+ on my reflective piece. I wanted to be a photographer in Year 8 when my brother placed his Canon EOS in my hands and taught me how to take photos. I wanted to be a Public Relations consultant when I was in Year 10 and I realised that companies had lost sight of how to advertise to their audiences. And now, in my dream university course, I’m questioning what I really want to do. Media has been the only constant for me, this is the field that I love, and hell, I’m good at this. This is all I’ve really been good at.
And a little further down the list:
“To be more confident about myself and my passion“.
All of this self-doubt is so overwhelming sometimes, I think it’s about time to refocus and discover whether this is where I need to be, and if so, accept the fact that I deserve to be here.
It seems almost impossible to escape the wrath of media, regardless of where you go or what you do.
We are constantly exposed – even over-exposed – to forms of media, whether it be for the sake of an advertisement or for entertainment purposes. Media is constantly screaming at us, begging for attention like a child, and it is through this that we develop awareness of the world.
I wondered into the Emporium and was bombarded by vivid advertisements for products as mundane as a soft drink and wondered about the correlations between advertisements and the actual products that they’re advertising. Like what is the direct link between a men’s facial razor and hiking in the mountains that was supposedly apparent enough to base an entire advertisement around? Ah, I see now. Men. Men shave their face. Men are manly. Manly men go hiking. In the mountains. Yes, of course, that ad makes perfect logical sense now.
Companies play on our preconceptions about who we are and who we desire to be. The average man desires to be manly, therefore purchases a razor to trim his facial hair that is advertised to make an average man such as himself significantly more manly. Manly enough to scale the face of a cliff, apparently. It’s smart marketing that gives unknowing men the falsity of a masculinity boost.
So why do we buy into these advertising ploys that companies spoon feed us through our handheld screens and televisions and the bellowing media that we are exposed to? You decide.
a) Because there is a sense of security in following trends. It’s cool to be in the know and aware of what is popular and what is out of season or obsolete.
b) We feel insecure – though we may not openly admit it – about who we are and how we look, therefore we allow the media to influence the way we see ourselves to the extent that it is upon this influence that we shape our identities and outward appearances.
c) There’s a lot of pressure on consumers to spend money on things when they are pitched to us in a specific way. When a beautiful woman holds something as unremarkable as a new model vacuum cleaner, the pressure is on to be that beautiful woman with that brand-spanking new vacuum cleaner. It’s a ‘shut up and take my money!’ moment. Smart business, really.
I feel that this collection of media artefacts best represents me in the way that I see myself. I am difficult to define as one sole thing, as I am far from that. I often find myself wanting to do or be two juxtaposing things at once, hence my inability to categorise myself.
Image 1:
This picture was taken at my favourite place, the lake behind my house. I find that this is the only place I can find serenity and think amongst the madness of day to day.
Image 2:
Drawing has always been a means of escape for me. No matter how long I place down my pen for, whenever I start again I can just pick up where I left off.
Image 3:
My chalkboard wall provides me with a huge scape from which I can brainstorm or simply express myself through art. Also, I really, really love my dog.
Image 4:
I found this rat piece down a Melbourne lane, probably imitational, but nonetheless, a Banksy-inspired piece. Banksy has driven me to challenge myself as an artist and is the reason I ventured out into the street art style.
Image 5:
I took this picture of my nephew when he was about 8 months old. He is such an enormous aspect of who I am and motivates me every day to be better not just for myself, but for him.
Image 6:
My best friend passed away at the beginning of last year, and this picture at the creek near his house is one of the last memories I have with him.
Video 1:
This snippet is a recording of my dad’s record player, playing the outro of “Hey Jude” by the Beatles. I have countless memories of my dad humming this to himself.
Video 2:
A close friend of mine lost her father almost 2 years ago, and inherited his beloved Chevrolet. As a classic cars fanatic, you can only imagine who excited I was filming this.
Video 3:
I recorded this video on the train one day, and fell in love with the way the colours of the graffiti surge past and contrast so starkly with the greenery.
Audio 1:
This is a reading from what is likely to be my favourite book, ‘The Five People You Meet in Heaven’, by Mitch Albom. However morbid it may be, I see so much truth in this passage.
Audio 2:
The sound of a kettle boiling has to be one of my favourite sounds, as I automatically associate that with the ease of sipping coffee.
Audio 3:
I started learning piano when I was 8 but only kept it up for a few years. I was sloppy at it, but I refused to give up on it until I had learned the Harry Potter theme song.
