Recently, I had the opportunity to work behind the scenes on a reality TV show. The show hasn’t been aired yet so I can’t actually disclose any specific information but the whole day was so much fun and quite an eye opener.
Everyone always says reality TV really isn’t really reality at all. That it’s all fake. I didn’t realise how mostly true this was until I was working on the set of one. So much is staged and re-done in order to make a task or a person seem more interesting. There’s so much stopping and starting and there are scenes that are completely fictional but are put in to enhance the narrative of the episode.

We began the day at 9am and by the time we had completed filming, packed everything up, said goodbye to everyone and loaded all the equipment into the cars, it was midnight. I met some great people as well. One point during the day saw me running around China Town carrying a gigantic tripod, with the producer from The Block, a camera man, sound guy and two extremely extroverted contestants. It was a great way for me to see how the different roles involved in a television production come together and aid one another.

When I first heard that our task in Media was to create a 1 minute video involving photos and recordings, I was pretty confident that I could come up with something mildly ok. However when I learned that the video had to be a self-portrait, a compilation of things reflecting myself, I freaked out a little. When I started collecting things to actually put in the video I didn’t like anything I chose because I felt like there were too many things to choose from but also not enough to fit into a 1 minute video! So as you can tell I didn’t exactly have the best time in completing this task. What I did come up with isn’t really something I’m proud of, if I’d thought it through more, there’d be more of a story to it and I would’ve have used my camera rather than iphone. I chose to use my iphone because it meant I could capture things wherever I was and not have to worry about carting a big camera with me everywhere just in case I was suddenly inspired to film something, but it meant that the quality of my footage was severely average. I also hadn’t had much experience in editing. I enjoyed playing around in Final Cut and learning a few new tricks though which is definitely something good that came out of this task.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg5shWUH0-I&feature=youtu.be

I’ve been writing for a music blog for quite a few months now and have started to realise how much I really enjoy music journalism. I’ve been playing with the idea of eventually making a career out of this as music and writing are two things I’m extremely passion about. AND, a huge plus is that at the moment, writing for Semplesize, I get to go to gigs for free and then write a review on how I thought it went!
Here’s a review I wrote recently about a gig I attended at Shadow Electric in Abbotsford.

http://www.semplesize.com/peezo-tigerilla-charlie-threads-shadow-electric/

Below is a review I wrote for Semplesize after attending Client Liaison’s gig in Melbourne recently.

The term ‘Mis-en-scene’ as I’ve learned this week means ‘to put in the scene’. It describes all of the elements placed within the scene to create meaning. Whilst watching the screening of ‘Play Time’ this week I found myself looking at particular shots and scenes and trying to find relevance. “Why are all the characters in this scene wearing dark shades of clothing?” “Why is the sound of feet approaching a stand-out sound effect?” Unfortunately I can’t say I found many answers as after a while, I realised I really disliked the film. There were some elements of quirky encounters that I found amusing at times but mostly the film was a struggle to sit through as it’s structure wasn’t something that I was used to. I had to try really hard to focus on what was happening without zoning out and to me, that’s never a sign of a good film. After watching it, I went and read up a little about the film to see if I could gage what had actually occurred within it. It became clear that the set and costumes were very much centred around the idea of a ‘post-modern’ Paris, as well as conformity and rigidity. This then gave more meaning to the repetitiveness of the certain sound effects and situations that occurred. I realised that there was no essential plot to the film as such, it’s really just made up of a series of occurrences that relate to each other in one way or another.

This song is not only super catchy but is also accompanied by a really cool and artistic video clip. As a student, I’m really interested in the musical side of media and how this has developed and expanded, particularly in music video. A discussion about certain types of shots used in modern video clips seems to have come up quite a bit this week in my learnings. My reading for Cinema Studies this week focused on abstract/ experimentalist films. The chapter stated that many avante garde styles and concepts have transgressed into music video, particularly in the late 1970’s. I found this really interesting because when I first watched the “Bugatti” clip, my initial thoughts were that it was almost a recreation of 1970’s stereotypes and that the editing was reminiscent of films created in the era.

On top of this, we watched the “Nights of Cydonia” video clip by Muse recently in my Music In Pop Culture class. Here, I also noticed elements of the 70’s, especially the shots regarding extreme close-up’s after a zoom.

To me the Wizard of Oz has always been a tale of adventure and nothing more. Mostly because the only time I had ever seen the film was when I was very young and not at a stage where I could really analyse the aspects of the movie. After watching it again last week, I realised that The Wizard of Oz is still primarily a tale of adventure but I also noted the present themes of adolescence, appreciation and gratitude, and escape via a fantasy world. These themes according to Bordwell and Thompson’s different forms of meaning, I think would come under explicit and implicit meaning. Explicit refers to the overall themes within a film, whilst implicit refers more to the smaller, key meanings within a film or text.

Dorothy is a relatable character in that she wishes for more and to run away from her troubles. When she arrives in Oz it seems that she has been successful in doing so. However, much like her home, it isn’t soon before Oz begins to reveal a darker side as Dorothy is not always safe there with the witch on her back. This reiterated the idea that you really can’t have the negative without the positive, the light without the dark and that as nice as it would be to escape all of your troubles in a magical land, it still isn’t a realistic option. This is again reinforced literally with the film’s colour scheme. The movie begins in black and white, which confused me last week as I had always remembered The Wizard of Oz as being vividly colourful. This all made much more sense as she stepped through the door and entered Oz, a beautifully vibrant, colourful world. As a result the contrast between the two worlds became much more evident. As this was also the first film to ever introduce colour, the transition between black and white and full colour within the same movie is all the more bedazzling.

A review I wrote for Semplesize on my friend’s band and their support acts.

Ursine, Chase City, Swim Season. Keep these names in your head and don’t forget them. This is indie rock at it’s best. With tunes that make you want to dance your heart out and with the performance energy of recently released tigers, these three emerging bands absolutely smashed it at The Workers Club.

Kicking off the night were the Ursine boys, homegrown from Tasmania and planning to relocate to Melbourne this year. Reminiscent of Two Door Cinema Club and a sunny day at the beach, these guys are a necessity for your iPod. Although the room wasn’t yet full as they began, this situation quickly changed as Ursine’s unique and catchy melodies drifted through the venue. Soon the place was full of heat due to all the dancing bodies. It was insanely obvious that Ursine really know how to set off a gig.

Chase City took to the stage next, another group of talented peeps all the way from Tassie. If any of the vibes in the room were lost after Ursine’s set finished, Chase City brought them right back as soon as they stepped on stage. Their original songs were ridiculously on-point, but the band’s rendition of The Wombat’s Jump Into The Fog sent everyone wild – and for good reason. The cover was flawless and electrifying.

And then along came Swim Season. These guys have been building up a name for themselves over the past few years and have really hit the mark. The Melbourne-based band delivered songs that made me feel like I should already know the words and created an atmosphere that made it impossible to leave. Literally everything you want in a band, Swim Season have it.

Be sure to check out where Ursine, Chase City and Swim Season are headed next and experience them for yourselves.

Dank. Hommus. Whooptang. Coffee. Drank. Steeze lord. Frands. Iggle. Das Moleskin. Shnoo. Dizzle. Glass Animals. Nizzle. Duraldo. m8. Steeze. What the frickity frackidack. Frands fronds frunds. Music. Dancing. Beats. Trams, trains, trams. Party. Sleep. Work. Think. Think. THINK. Skitz. Feel. Love. Pasta. Create. Halp. Be. Is. Want. Soul. Dankdizzle.

https://vimeo.com/122528503

https://vimeo.com/122388672

After reading Bordwell and Thompson’s chapter on experimental film form and watching the screenings, I realised that the avant-garde form is actually quite present in a lot of mainstream cinema today, just diluted. Imagery is the main means of conveying meaning within a film, if it wasn’t we might as well read a book or listen to the radio. The beauty of watching a movie is being able to understand concepts and narrative through pictures and repetitive symbols as well as the use of dialogue and words. However, where mainstream film often has an obvious storyline with relatable characters and a steady plot-line, experimental film is an intensely concentrated avenue of symbolism and ideas where one has to really search for links and patterns in order to make sense of what they are watching. Bordwell and Thompson mentioned that Michel Gondry and Chris Cunningham had developed aspects of the avant-garde technique into music videos. Reading this made me think of a modern music video, “Bugatti” by Tiga that I had watched recently and really enjoyed. The video clip showcased a series of different repetitive images that alter in time to the beat and seemingly have no connection to one another, also reminiscent of Ballet Mecanique. After a while I began to detect a representation of the sixties era and upperclass status from the objects within the video clip. Similarly, once studying Ballet Mecanique more thoroughly, it becomes obvious that the film takes the idea of ‘ballet’ and applies it to mundane objects and movements.

Our current assignment in Media 1 is to produce a series of unedited media (recordings, photographs, video footage) that represent a self-portrait. RULE NUMBER ONE: No selfies. I have to create a self-portrait, but no… selfies. Halp meh pls. Anyway, so far I have one recording. It’s a really really bad recording of myself having a jam session in my room. Enjoy. (But like don’t really)

UNI IS VERY DIFFERENT TO HIGH SCHOOL. Luckily I’ve managed to make some cool friends and source free food on more than one occasion, but it still took me an entire week to realise that when people mention ‘blackboard’, they’re not talking about the kind you draw on with chalk. They’re talking about a nebulus ether where all of your curriculum and assignments and livelihood are stored. I literally refferred to it as “Chalkboard” during a tutorial the other day and everyone just looked at me like I had 3 heads. Never again.

I managed to successfully borrow a library book. That was rad.

So I have all of my classes with this guys called Jac and now we’re like actually inseperable. He shall be my Media buddy and I shall call him Media Buddy.