Constraint 03 – Slow: Several Shots from Emily Malone on Vimeo.
Constraint 03 – Slow: Several Shots
Monthly Archives: March 2014
Constraint 03 – Slow: Single Take
Constraint 03 – Slow: Single Take from Emily Malone on Vimeo.
Week 04: Reflections
A key point from today’s symposium was the hybridisation of the media. A lot of content can no longer just be called a singular form (such as TV which is now a multi-media product; a conglomerate of elements; entangled with online websites, advertising, and interaction). Adrian made an interesting point about reality TV saying it was where computer games meet television. The logic of these shows all involve a quest, or levelling up. They mirror our experiences, which is why we find it compelling.
We then went on to discuss the Habermasian notion of the public sphere, and what impact mobile technology has had on it. Someone pointed out that phone conversations used to happen in private phone booths, but now conversations are conducted in public spaces, allowing those around you to hear at least 50% of the conversation. Armand Mattelart, a Belgian media theorist, even goes as far as ‘participating’ in these conversations that play out around him, explaining to the person on the phone that they shouldn’t think that their conversation is private. We have very changed ideas on what public spaces now are. Whereas they used to be the coffeehouses of 19th century Europe, we have been trained to direct our sites of discussion more inward, with a current interest in the self. This can be seen with Apple’s branding, how they individualise each of their products to ‘belong’ to you (iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc). Adrian think we can build tools that either restrict our access/ability to look outside our own world view, or that enable this: it’s very much about how you approach it.
We spoke about the democratisation of media, and the accessibility which is unlocked as a result. Seth sees this as creating more opportunities, as more people have the possibility to make films now. However Adrian warned us of a conservative minority voice that exists in someone like Andrew Keen’s writings about how amateur production is eating away at professional production. I really don’t like this style of argument, and find it elitist. Whilst I understand what he means, I think so much more could be achieved creatively by accepting and embracing the possibilities that new ‘types’ of filmmakers can bring to the profession. It allows for more voices, more diversity, and ultimately more communication. We were also warned that this discussion relies on a very privileged definition of ‘films’ and ‘filmmaking’ – do we call ourselves filmmakers if we only use our iPhone? No. If we write a letter, are we a novelist? No. If you know stuff, are you an expert? No.
We went on to speak at length about narrative, which led me to write this blog post which looks into it further.
Week 03: Troubleshooting
In class, Seth had us talk about mobile videography (as the majority of the class filmed their first constraints using their mobile phones). He pointed us in the direction of a mobile editing software called Splice. I filmed my sketches on my DSLR, but if I do any of the future constraints on my mobile, I will think about downloading this. Someone in class also mentioned that iMovie can be downloaded as an iOS app for free, so I have downloaded that.
Seth also introduced us to Diigo – and the wider concept of social bookmarking.
I have now installed Korsakow onto my MacBook Pro and found this really simple to do – no troubles whatsoever.
We were told it would be a good idea to test our first clips in Korsakow to make sure they are working (because we can only use h264 – which I learned about last week), so I will try and do this during the week.
(Picture via flickr)
Week 03: Visual Haikus
This week I came across Sandra Gaudenzi’s blog which has a post dedicated to her idea of a ‘visual haiku’.
This concept is really interesting for me because it’s another example of a new way to communicate using a digital medium.
The IM1 course is so far teaching me many new things about perspective and how to see alternative forms of art and poetics in the ordinary. You just need to notice.
Here is my attempt at my own visual haiku.
A lot can happen between now and never
Week 03: Gaze
This week I watched the k-film Gaze which I found on the Korsakow website’s showcase section.
The film is about how we encounter strangers in our day to lives, without ever knowing their story or their experience of the world. There are twenty fragments to this piece. Many of these fragments have internal-monologue-like voiceovers of the male strangers who see a woman walking through the city. The content of their discussion seems to provide an insight into the predominant ‘male gaze’ with is ripe with desire and objectification.
I like how you can select either a low, medium or high quality viewing of the k-film, as this means that if you have a slow internet connection, you’re not penalised. However, what I found interesting was that this is the first k-film I have seen which stitches together its video fragments with cross-fade photographs as opposed to videos.
All of the fragments have been edited to black and white, with the exception of spot colour on the lips and scarf of the main protagonist: a woman who is seen walking through the city.
Each time you click the red woman, you are given a viewing window of her with three preview windows on the right hand side showing three men’s faces you can choose from. When you select one of these, it takes you to an interface with a viewing window and two previews below, and eventually one of these previews becomes the girl. When you click on her it takes you back to the original interface. It goes through this cycle about three times until finally you arrive at an end SNU of the girl finally talking and giving her perspective of how she is perceived by strangers.
The feeling of the film becomes quite eerie as you get deeper in to it. There is a background track which plays the entirety of the time you are in the k-film, which also adds to the somewhat sombre mood. The footage comes across as almost obsessive, and I found myself starting to feel sorry and sympathise with the girl after each clip. I think the filmmakers have made a very effective piece which highlights problems with femininity in our society, and the inescapable reality of voyeurism.
Week 03: The power-plays behind definitions
This week, following the concept of definitions and taxonomies discussed in symposium 02, I had a conversation with my friend about the politics of definitions. These are some of the things we said:
There is always someone, or a group of people, who choose what a definition is.
For everything that gets included in a definition, there is something that is excluded.
Maybe it’s dangerous for us to always categories things to fit perfectly into clear-cut definitions. The fast-paced world we live in is fluid by nature – things are always changing. Definitions can be counter productive and restrict these changes and innovations.
I like taxonomies because they have boundaries and let me know how to think about something.
Adrian mentioned in the lecture that definitions and taxonomies are always problematic. It it not always the case that things can be pigeon-holed in the way that definitions demand. Adrian says that taxonomies are artificial, because the probabilistic world we live in is not a binary world that can be classified into black and white. Even though humans have an inherent need to coral and domesticate things in order to make sense out of them, perhaps definitions are not the most productive way to go about this.
(Image via flickr)