Tag Archives: response

Achieving Goals

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On day 1 of this course, I wrote out 10 goals including things I wanted to learn or achieve over a range of different timelines, so I thought the end of Media 1 would be a good time to check back in and see how much progress I’ve made…

1. The standout qualities employers are looking for in the field of media

This semester we haven’t really talked about what employers are looking for, but I have realised the rigour of work that is expected, and gained a better understanding of requirements for project briefs. I think both of these things will be helpful in the future.

2. The best way (for me personally) to spark ideas that develop into creative approaches to project briefs

I did struggle with this at the beginning of the semester but I found that the two things that worked best for me were a) creating a brainstorm, writing down anything and everything that popped into my mind and b) getting out there and starting to create something, because this always sparked new ideas.

3. Working well in groups

I have had the chance to work in a number of groups in my different classes this semester. Though there were some challenges, I was able to practice resolving them. I also had one great group experience working on brief 4 for media, and this taught me how collaborating with others can help you create something so much better than you could have created alone.

4. Communicating effectively with classmates and lecturers/tutors

I think I have done quite well with this over the semester, and I will continue to work on my communication skills as I progress through my degree.

5. Effectively getting ideas onto paper/developed into a final product

There were times when this was more challenging than others. Again, I found that the best way to create something was just to get something down on paper (or on screen) because it’s easier to make decisions when you have something in front of you rather than just a blank screen.

6. Create a network to open up job prospects

I haven’t really had a chance to work on this much, so I’ll have to revisit it next semester. I have, however, met some wonderfully talented people in my media class, and I think that’s an important step in networking.

7. Understand the context of classroom learning and how this can be applied to jobs internationally

Again, this is something I haven’t given too much thought to because it’s still early days in my degree, but it’s something to keep in mind going forward.

8. How to effectively utilise technology to work on varied media project briefs

I think even from one project brief to the next, my editing skills definitely improved. I also got to film with a proper video camera and sound recorder for the first time, so that was an important step in developing my technical skills.

9. Figure out my postgraduate/career pathway

I have been thinking a lot about this over the course of the semester and I think that after I complete my degree, I would like to continue into a Masters of Marketing. Of course, this could still change between now and the end of my degree…

10. Gain practical experience working with a range of media platforms

I have started to gain experience working with basic software and some new technology, but I am looking forward to working with more high tech programs in the future and experimenting with the available features.

The End of Media 1

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“Because today we live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media, by governments, by big corporations, by religious groups, political groups… So I ask, in my writing, What is real? Because unceasingly we are bombarded with pseudo-realities manufactured by very sophisticated people using very sophisticated electronic mechanisms. I do not distrust their motives; I distrust their power. They have a lot of it. And it is an astonishing power: that of creating whole universes, universes of the mind. I ought to know. I do the same thing.” ― Philip K. Dick

I read this quote and I knew I had to write something about it.

The concept of “manufacturing reality” scares me as a future media creator. I want to believe that I can tell the difference between what is news and what is make believe, but it seems that increasingly it is harder to trust my senses on this.

The quote above reminds me of the film Wag the Dog, which explores the idea of a filmmaker writing history by creating news of a war that does not exist, to protect a politician. Though it’s fiction, it’s quite scary to think that somebody could have so much power that they could literally create history. I think that after a certain point, it would be out of even the creator’s hands; if something is so ingrained in people’s minds and enough people believe it, it becomes real. It is the very same concept mentioned above of “creating universes of the mind”.

I hope that through my work I can create alternate universes that may help people escape from their lives for a while. But I also hope that people can always tell the difference between reality and imagination, and that the media is never so powerful that we completely lose trust in those feeding us information.

The “Anthropocene”

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“The Anthropocene represents a new phase in the history of the Earth, when natural forces and human forces became intertwined, so that the fate of one determines the fate of the other. Geologically, this is a remarkable episode in the history of the planet.”

The concept of the “anthropocene” briefly explored in this blog post (one of our readings for week 12), projects the world as being past the stage of saving. In other words, whatever happens now, the damage has already been done. I found the short extract above particularly interesting in light of how much recent discussion there has been about this topic and about “preparing for the end of the world”. Reflecting on the concept, it’s amazing just how many television shows, movies, books and songs have weighed in or focused on the issue. There are shows about “doomsday preppers” and an incredible number of movies and books centred around dystopian worlds in which the world has ceased to exist as we know it.

Though it’s quite confronting to think about, it’s also fascinating to imagine whether any of these imaginative dystopian predictions will come to pass. I think that’s exactly why it is such a popular focus in the media today.

Blog O’Clock

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Week 12 Lectorial:

Watching Valorie Curry’s short film, Kara, I was shocked by the sympathy I felt for the machine who had become a girl in front of my eyes. Even though I knew full well that a) she had been developed as a piece of technology and b) she was merely a creation in a film, not real life, when I saw what looked like a human, my response was to think of her as a human. 

I recognise that technology has not yet developed to the extent portrayed in the short film, and also that there are many breakthroughs that we have yet to learn about. However, at the end of the day, I think that humans are more intelligent than machines. I don’t mean that we can do all the computation that machines can, nor can we have 10 tabs open and running in our minds at the same time or speak every conceivable language, but humans are capable of thinking for themselves; machines are not.

If technology humans have developed is clever, it’s because somebody had the idea, the initiative, the tools and the intellect to bring that idea “to life” (no Kara pun intended). What may at face value seem like a machine’s intuition cannot possibly be so. 

Machines of every kind need to be programmed in some way, thus building the options we will then see when we use said technology. I think there is a risk that humans are coming to rely too heavily on technology and this begs the question of how much we are thinking for ourselves. This is the real danger; relying on technology that does not have the capacity to think for us, and losing our own capacity to create and use initiative.

Work Attachment

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Notes about Media work attachment (spoken about in week 10 lectorial)

  • Minimum 1500-word report but often much longer
    • Serves to demonstrate learning experience through the attachment
  • Reflections in google drive – not on the blog or in any other public place
  • Best to get as much experience as possible while RMIT has you insured
  • Minimum 80 hours
    • Must be approved by Paul Ritchard
    • Then fill in form about attachment

Previous internships:

  • Australian Chamber of Commerce – events and communications team
  • Newspaper
    • Australian Financial Review
    • Shanghai Daily

Goals for future internships/work attachments:

  • Newspapers – The Age, the Herald Sun
  • Marketing & communications team – National Australia Bank, Telstra
  • Advertising agency
  • …

I’m so excited that this is a part of the degree and I can’t wait to start searching for opportunities!

“Blood in the Gutter”

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“All of us perceive the world as a whole through the experience of our senses, yet our senses can only reveal a world that is fragmented and incomplete.”

I found the whole concept behind this reading, as well as its presentation as a comic, incredibly creative and thought-provoking. I had never thought about the associations that form subconsciously in audience’s minds when they view edited media or read comics. I’d simply thought about the stories told and the techniques I could see. I think the most interesting part about “Blood in the Gutter” was the theme that “elements omitted from a work of art are as much a part of that work as those included.” As was explained in the reading, in comics, this was the space between the frames, and in edited media it was in the cuts and in thinking about everything that was happening outside the view of the camera. This is especially important in thinking about what to show in edited media (visible), and what to imply (invisible), because both aspects play a key role in the interpretation of meaning by audiences.

Some other techniques mentioned in the reading – particularly fragmentation and rhythm – made me think about my own editing and how the consideration and incorporation of these techniques into my work could be the factor that draws a project together or gives it a particular charm. Finally, this reading taught me that the “phenomenon of observing the parts but perceiving the whole has a name; closure.”

I find the whole idea of gaining meaning from ” the gutter,” or the space between the panels to be such an incredible process. I’m excited to learn more about how specific editing choices produce certain effects, particularly through my own editing successes and failures throughout the course.

Portraits of America

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I follow a page on Facebook called “Portraits of America,” which has the same purpose as the much more well known “Humans of New York” – to provide a small glimpse into the lives of complete strangers in the hope that people may become a little more thoughtful and compassionate in their everyday lives.

One particular post, shared on 7 March, caught my attention. A man spoke about his experience growing up, expressing his opinion that “You have to reach a certain level of intelligence to avoid the control of the media. At a young age, you’re very susceptible to influence.” He then relayed his personal experience, explaining that a commercial on television led him to believe that because he was from a violent neighbourhood, he wouldn’t live past age 25. This had a deep psychological effect on the man. Reading a glimpse of one man’s story, I was shocked by the effect the media had on his life. I also started thinking about how many other people had been similarly influenced and to what extent this affected the way they lived their lives.

In a few of my tutorials for different classes, we have discussed how the media can have an impact rather than just “reflecting” society at a given moment in time. The example I saw on “Portraits of America” is a perfect representation of the power of media. If you hear something enough times, from enough sources, or presented in different ways, ideas start to sink in.

This man’s story also illustrates the importance of education in making well-informed decisions. The media can provide a skewed perspective for a multitude of reasons – advertising purposes, catering to a particular audience (left- or right-wing, for example), biases of the media producers, etc., which means that we need to periodically take a step back and exercise common sense to asses how media content should be interpreted.

I don’t necessarily agree with this man’s word choice that the media “controls” people, because the media cannot take away a person’s free will, but I do think it is much harder to escape today than ever before.