Category Archives: Assessment

fin

Posted on by under Assessment, Final

During the semester I was lucky enough to meet some awesome people in the course in general but also in my weekly tutorial and the great teaching staff as well. I thoroughly enjoyed going to class each week to see what was next in the course. What I learned straight off the bat in the first few weeks of the semester surprised me. I learnt that university and especially the course in general doesn’t teach you practical skills like how to use a camera or how to use editing software, but more about the approach in which you take to things while learning. University teaches you how to think, how to go outside of the square and how to be creative. I also learnt that it is a very good thing to be critical of yourself (sometimes people can do this a little too much) but also to take credit and appreciate yourself and the work you do. It is good to give personal feedback as well as peer feedback and take all of that on board.

Probably the thing which I found most challenging throughout the course was being critical of myself and write reflections on my work and my thoughts. Throughout the course I got better at all of this, but first up from never doing anything like it before, it was quite difficult. Another thing I found challenging was working with other people. I know that sounds kind of silly, but I am such an independent person and worker I find that it is so much easier to get things done on my own and not have to rely on everyone else or other people in general. I have different ways of working to other people so I prefer to just get things done on my own. But I learnt to deal with this which will help me for the future. In the ‘real’ world or when I get a job after uni in general, I will no doubt be working with people ALLLLLLLLLL the time. So you know what, you just have to get on and deal with things you don’t like sometimes.

I found that during the course I love editing and creating. I remember when I was about 11 or 12 and I would sit on my old Mac laptop with probably the first version of iMovie and make videos to Rihanna’s song Umbrella. I just used to love playing around with editing and movie making and that’s what led me on to do Film and TV at school and to do what I am doing now. When filming things I kind of get bored and don’t really know what to capture, however, when it comes time to editing, I couldn’t be happier. I could sit there for hours and hours just editing stuff – I love it! I didn’t really realise how much I liked it until this course. I also feel as though I am quite practical and an organised person so I like to get things done, by brainstorming all my ideas first and then going out, capturing waaaaay more than I need and then going for it… whatever comes, comes!

Below you can find my learning graph which I put together in the last tutorial for the semester (week 12):

  1. How much have I learnt about making media objects/studies?
  2. What is my ability to work independently in unfamiliar ways or with new systems and tools?
  3. How much do I understand and think critically and creatively about what I make?
  4. My understanding of the role/value of my blog.

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Below you will also find my five best blog posts which I have posted over the course of the semester:

  1. MEDIA IS EVERYWHERE
  2. PRISONERS
  3. BLOOD IN THE GUTTER…
  4. WORK WORK WORK WORK WORKIN ON MA SHIIIIII
  5. THIS IS DA REMIX

Enjoy!

Reflection Project Brief Four

Posted on by under Assessment

During the process of creating our media artefact for Project 4 I have learnt a lot about different aspects of the working process. I have been involved in group projects in the past, but this group project, I felt was quite different to others. It required extended thinking and for all group members to come together to have an input to the main ideas. Because the task was more complex than most, the collaboration and thinking from all group members was very important in order to be able to have a successful outcome. In the end Kelsey, Amalina and I all came together to create a magazine styled website aimed at young girls and their interactions online and especially through social media. We were to comment how they (young girls) as audiences connect with and interact with online devices. We each did our own research on our own chosen topics within the larger theme. From that we created our own major articles, our own question entry to the ‘dear diary’ section, as well as any interesting videos or media we found.

I feel that one of the most successful parts of our work was the whole aesthetic of the website. When entering the site you get the feeling straight away that it is girly. Each page that you go to changes slightly but also keeps the main ‘girly’ theme, without being full on, in your face, pink girly. Doing it that way, we were able to aim the site to all types of teenage girls, not just girly girls. Our ‘dear diary’ section is quite cute and quirky and is something I used to love reading in magazines like Girlfriend or Dolly when I was a young girl. I also feel like the concept of all of our articles were very good and stayed very on topic, all relating to each other in some way or another as well. We did come over a few little problems along the way. To begin with we wanted to make our articles quite ironic but we felt that this was a bit difficult as you have to be quite skilled and not everyone can pull it off writing in that style. We felt it would be easier to write more generally as it would relate more to our research as well. I also feel like the media page is not as strong as the others. It contains relevant material but I feel like our main focus was on the articles and that section was a little neglected. However, what each of the videos is conveying is relevant and relates to our whole theme of the website.

At the beginning of the project I was not to keen on working in a group as it requires more effort and I also had my doubts about group members pulling their weight. However, I feel as though I ended up with sufficient group members that were easy to work with and put in as much effort as I did. That is such an important thing when working with other people, that you will all put in the weight as you are all relying on each other. That is one of the biggest things I learnt during the process. Although I got good group members this time around, it may not always happen and most of the time will not happen in the real world. We will always be faced to work with people we may not get along with or may not agree with, but that is all a part of the learning experience. You have to learn to deal with things you may not necessarily enjoy, which in turn helps to make you a better group member in the long run and people will enjoy working with you a lot more.

Here is the link to the final website: http://elizaat1.wix.com/magazine

Project 3

Posted on by under Assessment, Week 7

Working on this project has been very positive and I feel has turned out to be very successful. The flow of the piece works well, even with the found footage in there, which is what I initially thought would be the most difficult thing to add in. However, after deciding which parts of the interview to  include, it made scanning the web a lot easier and I found some very fitting clips. I put the footage together in a way to create background information on Sophy. It was all fast paced which set quite a difference from the original footage. Although the contrast of the two, they were nicely blended together. This was achieved by gradually slowing the found footage to normal speed as the original footage begun. I also wanted to make a distinction between the two by making the found footage all black and white, hence, showing that it was from her childhood as the recording equipment would have been of much lesser quality.

I feel that this portrait of Sophy Blake (whom is also my amazing mother) is a very accurate portrayal, depicted in a cute, quirky, non-traditional kind of way. The whole process of creating a portrait of someone else rather than yourself is very different. You have to then worry about what they want to be included and how you can depict them in a certain way. Because Sophy is so talented and creative herself, it made it easy to find things to include. She is also very well spoken and instinctively knows what to say, helping considerably as not much pre planning was needed. I ended up with significantly more media to work with, so in reality I could have made a 5 minute self portrait on her. This made it difficult as I had to cut down to the really good parts and to what I thought would tell the best story on Sophy.

Although the project turned out to be quite successful there is always going to be a few little mess ups. The interview was conducted outdoors on Sophy’s balcony, picking up a lot of background noise. It isn’t so obvious because of the music playing over the top, but there are still hints of birds chirping and other things in the background. In future I now know that interviews need to happen somewhere where no background noise will be picked up.

 

Self Portrait v2.0

Posted on by under Assessment, Week 5

I found that the second self portrait was much more broad and exciting than the first. We were able to put our editing skills to use and really use our creativity through the ways in which we put together all of the forms of media that we recorded. This could be through colour alterations, how the audio worked with the visuals and generally how the media was assembled.

In the second project brief I feel as though I was trying to convey something quite different to my first self portrait. Self Portrait one was conveying more of a spiritual side of myself however, self portrait two has delivered a more practical side. Most of my mediums were gathered in the Williamstown Botanic Gardens which is quite significant in itself as it is where I had my naming ceremony when I was only a year old. Through this media artefact I tried to communicate my roots and how I still have a childish, adventurous side as I wandered through the grounds. As well as this, in the stills I held up flowers from the gardens in place of my own face. Through this action my intention was to show the side of me that is in touch with nature and how much I love being outdoors.

The quick cuts and general fast pace in my self portrait transmits how busy I can be and the overall rushed notion which children display. I feel as though at times throughout the minute video, the fast pace seemed a little too quick which didn’t work as well as I would  have liked. However, I think the photographs worked quite well and I also liked the audio that I added. None of the natural sounds from the footage was kept in my self portrait. All of the audio was clips of sound which I recorded and put together to create a new backing track which I fell enhanced my film in many ways.

Overall, I believe that this video portrays a side of me that isn’t always showing but is definitely always there… A very important part of who I am. So here it is:

Me, Myself and I

Posted on by under Assessment, Week 3

Throughout this task I have attempted to convey an array of traits I believe I hold within my personality, as well as some of my interests and beliefs. I am a relaxed, creative, strong and hardworking girl; when I start something I have to finish it otherwise I become a little anxious and begin overthinking things. I like to test things out before I jump into them however I am not afraid to be on my own and in fact feel I NEED time to be on my own to think and just have space from everyone. I am now an adult with real responsibilities, branching out to new things and new opportunities, but I am not afraid to still have a childish side. During the task I recorded more of each medium than I needed, so I have had to narrow it down to the required amount. This was quite a tough decision having to define myself in only a few photographs, videos and audio recordings, however these decisions were critical in the end and really made me think WHO I am. Here you go:

When you were young you liked playing dolls with your friends. You would dance in the garden and dip your toe in the pool. Now you’re grown up and you put on your makeup with your friends. You dance in the moonlight and swim in the big blue ocean.

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