Project brief #4’s social experiment went in directions I didn’t expect. I think we did well with the diversity and relevance of platforms we engaged with and the theory we explored that led us to make those decisions. Looking at the audience from a producer’s point of view was a take that interested me because the way content is produced and distributed has changed so drastically with the popularisation of social media and the internet. I’m fascinated by the way the audience has, in many ways, become the producer and especially the distributor. Cate Klancey was a great medium to explore this change in audience dynamics. The theory that motivated our decisions was strong and I think that blogging our findings as we went (on https://cateklancey.wordpress.com) was a good way to supplement and add texture to the videos and social media.

Unfortunately, because we put Cate Klancey out into the world, we gained very little information to work with. Our lack of data meant that we had to rely on research for most of our information. The nature of our experiment meant that it was unlikely from the beginning that Cate would be ‘accepted’ by audiences, who are notoriously good at detecting anything inorganic. It’s a shame that we didn’t have the opportunity to draw our own conclusions about audience engagement and participation. Tragically, not every video will achieve the awe-inspiriting popularity of ‘Dog screams like a man’.

An alternative could have been to reach out to a former reality star and use their “celebrity” base (which Cate obviously didn’t have) to kickstart a campaign. Logistically (and possibly legally), this would have been nearly impossible but would have given us a better chance at actually connecting and interacting with a relevant audience, rather than one comprised of Russian spam-bots and 12 year-olds from South Carolina. The fact that most of Cate’s followers were gained through the #followforfollow hashtag meant that a majority of her following was disengaged, only having followed her to boost their own follower count. We debated buying followers, but that would have weakened their quality even more. The theory follows that potential audiences are impressed by a large follower count and are therefore more likely to follow. As we were examining audiences from a producers point of view, this was an option, but since were motivated to interact with any followers we did gain as part of the experiment we decided against it.

Collaboration is something I’ve struggled with in the past. I often find group projects frustrating and was very lucky to work with a team that were receptive and honest communicators. In some ways, it would have been a good learning experience to work in a relatively low-stakes situation with a group that was completely dysfunctional but overall I’m glad that I could learn and solidify some collaborative skills.

My belief that communication is key has been strengthened by this assignment. Every group member needs to attend the meetings, respond to texts and emails promptly and voice any problems they’re having with their workload or other members of the group. Fortunately, I don’t believe my group suffered too much from any communication problems and overall what we did worked. A group message service, like WhatsApp (which we used) or Facebook Messenger was essential for keeping in touch and is something I’ll continue to use in the future. Sharing the Google Drive first thing was also good and afforded everyone equal access to see and upload documents, rather than having a ‘gatekeeper’ who was in charge of uploading everything. Finally, a blog that we could all update with our findings as we went was an easy and well-presented way to present a portfolio of our information that we could update as we went along. Open sharing tools like these are fantastic and I’d like to build upon my knowledge them for future collaborations.

Creating a contract was very helpful in initially setting our goals and standards. Next time I do a project like this, I’d like to make it even more specific and refer back to it more often. It was difficult to create it with formal tasks and goals when our project was constantly evolving and I felt that there were occasional problems in dividing the work. I’m not sure how to address this problem but knowing that it could be an issue means that I’ll focus on it future projects and develop a solution through experience.

project brief 3 from Ellie Jamonts on Vimeo.

I’m happy with how my editing has developed since the last project brief. Simple techniques such as dissolves and slip editing have made a big difference to the smoothness of my piece. However, I think I failed in making Jen feel comfortable. A different set-up — with me sitting out of frame and talking to her conversationally – would have made a big difference.

I’m learning that portrait-making seems, like everything, a lot easier than it is. My piece is relatively straightforward, an interview edited down, but I found I had to make lots of choices to keep the integrity of the piece. I’d decided to let Jen speak for herself and then edit that rather than making an abstract piece, but the opportunities presented by found footage in particular were very tempting. In the future, I’d like to explore the abstract potential of portraits.

Before I began editing I watched a tutorial on Lynda. Watching a tutorial sounds like an obvious step but I went into my second brief without doing it and the difference it made this time was enormous. Since I watched it pre-production, I had new ideas about what to film based on the editing techniques I’d learnt. Although I think I’m still far away from realising my potential as an editor – and I don’t believe that editing will ever be a key skill of mine, I don’t have the attention to detail – I’ll continue to learn from the experts rather than trying to figure it out as I go along.

Having the actual experience of setting up a camera, negotiating filming etc has given me a lot to think about. I’m glad I was familiar with the camera, although I did have trouble with the tripod. I understand now, through practical experience, that it’s essential to go in with a plan. I wasn’t dissatisfied with the questions and plan I’d scribbled down but as I go on to develop larger and more complex media artefacts it’s clear I’m going to need to implement a system. As far as I can tell, the best way to develop this beyond getting advice is through trial and error.

My submitted reflection was included with my video but after seeing other self-portraits and the comments I received in workshop I wanted to write a little more.

What worked?
I really liked my videos, even though the quality was low. I’d really like to reuse them somehow (and definitely retake them on a better camera). I was surprised to hear that my photos were my strongest element since I wasn’t particularly happy with the way that section came out. I think my problem with it was the way it worked into the overall piece but it did feel a bit forced. Still, if it’s something that works I need to take that on board. My own, hidden intentions and feelings don’t really matter if the audience perceives them differently.

What didn’t?
All the talking! I think in my move away from my abstract first project brief I went too far in the other direction. Narrowing in on one element of my personality and then narrating it didn’t give nearly the scope I saw in other projects. Obviously I don’t want to imitate what they did or take a broader approach because it was the more popular thing to do, but seeing how much they achieved in a minute made me reconsider if such an intense focus was a good idea. I think I could have shown a lot more about myself if I’d taken a different approach.

Thoughts on editing
I have so far to go! Although I was pleased to see I’d picked up a few techniques by accident, like sound bridges. I think I’ll focus on my transitions in particular for project brief no. 3 and make them smoother, better timed and varied. 

I knew project brief no. 1 was going to be valuable but going into no. 2 with the knowledge I’ve gained from it is really beneficial. As I mentioned in my reflection, I still like the idea of painting a picture of myself from the world that I live in rather than detailing myself – but I decided to focus on the world I surround myself with, rather than the world that surrounds me. It’s a slight distinction but a major one I think. People choose to catch the train or drive, for example, but it’s still about them getting to the same place. But if someone chooses to take a plane to a holiday their destination is up to them.

For the first few days I was stuck, which really scared me because I usually have ideas pretty quickly – crummy, unsustainable ideas, but things I can use as a springboard. Eventually I managed to develop my vague understanding of these two different ‘worlds’ into something tangible. I wanted to talk about mountains. For someone who’s been born and mostly lived by the sea, I have a strong connection to the mountains. It’s all about that choice I mentioned: I am surrounded by the sea but I choose, when I can, to be by mountains instead.

In the end it seemed a little two-dimensional to talk about nothing but “hey I really like this geographical feature” for an entire minute, but out of that grew the idea to talk about the things in my room (the poster of the Wildschönau Valley is a remnant from that original idea) and then onto reflection and deliberate noticing in general. I thought about the way I think, the things I like to look at, and realised I was usually thinking about these things when I should have been focusing on something else.

From there, it was a process of almost interviewing myself and trying to figure out which phrases really expressed how I felt and which were boring or idiotic. I wasn’t overly concerned with the video component so long as I took from my beautiful things in daily life. I love nighttime much more than the day so that was an obvious choice. The lights at North Melbourne Station are something I go out of my way to see, even after a long day, and I always cross the road to walk on the Town Hall/Cathedral side of Swanson str, even if I know I’ll have to cross back again. It’s these little choices that shape my day which is ultimately what I wanted my project to be about: how my personality affects my choices and my life.