Category Archives: Class Discussions

NARRATIVE EXPLORATION

Today’s narrative exercise reminded me of the adult swim short films ‘Too Many Cooks’ and ‘Unedited Footage of a Bear’. Basically, they are made up of seemingly unrelated events linked together on the thinnest string, taking wild directions. I advise people to check them out. At one point our (non-fictional) narrative sequence was:

I woke up in a gutter
I went insect hunting
I lobotomised my sister’s new boyfriend
I got $10,000 in debt
I sold a mortar and pestle full of toenails to a geriatric Jew
I told my sister I loved her
I fell asleep in a gutter

This honestly did seem like the most logical progression of events. We did forget to add in “I walked in on my wife in bed with 2 large bees” though. It probably fits in best before going bee bashing. The class was a bit of fun, and although we took a ridiculous approach, it was a form of narrative practice, I guess.

I realised during Liam’s talk that I’ve probably underestimated the power of editing in the past. I wouldn’t say that editing is wholly responsible for progression of narrative; we have other elements of film for that. But it does have a strong ability to affect our understanding. For something like ‘Too Many Cooks’, the editing is a key focus, as it does not adhere to a logical structure. And to be honest, by the end of it, you just feel downright confused. There are some juxtaposed images that will never create meaning; Christopher Pyne has no chance of sitting on The Iron Throne.

– Gabriel

UNSUCCESSFUL PRE-PRODUCTION

“Can I swear?” – Paul Ritchard to a class of first year media students. “Damn” was my initial reaction. I hate it when someone takes the pleasure away from me by asking if it is okay to swear. It seems so sinister and unsuspecting to say ‘fuck’ or ‘shit’ to emphasise a point. It is such an easy way to grab attention. The point that Paul wanted to make certainly got through regardless. Time, more often than not, will slip through the cracks when working on a production. I like the idea of allowing an extra hour of time to set up for a shoot as Daniel Binns suggested. Just to get the head settled before hours of guaranteed roadblocks and, a-hmm, fuckarounds. Most of which are bound to be sorted in an unorthodox and challenging matter.

Film shoots are the reel test of media production. Although I haven’t been a part of many, it’s easy to note the critical thinking directors have to go through to reach a final product they are happy with. I made a short film to test my knowledge and skills of my camera, and encountered plenty of problems along the way. The biggest of this was being able to direct everyone while appearing in the film itself. For some reason I just thought it wouldn’t be too hard. I was wrong. Even with a cast of friends who I could speak to freely and effectively, time slipped away as the deadline approached. And there was lots of swearing, mainly because I was stressing, thankfully no verbal abuse was hurled. It was a bit of fun, but definitely not as good as I would have liked. Bit loopy that it’s called “Unsuccessful” really. Have a geeze below.

It has since become obvious that I need to invest more time in pre-production, and probably more in post-production too. Paul’s reiteration of this will resonate with me. Sometimes I operate on the fly without considering everything, and end up with an egg on my face. Too much egg, not enough fucking Caesar salad.

Source

– Gabriel

SELF PORTRAIT REFLECTION

In my LO-FI self-portrait I presented myself through character traits, lifestyle choices and personal opinions. I captured objects and situations around me that were relatable rather than constructing situations myself. Other people in my group opted to capture situations with a bit more thought. They were well constructed, succinct ideas relating to their personalities.

Operating under the different caps was an effective way to gain feedback where we might not have normally received it. Everyone gets nervous when being put on a pedestal. I am happy enough to present myself to the world though because I encourage criticism. It creates growth. My group mentioned that I could touch up my photography skills and create scenes better representing my attributes more so than my opinions. This is what I want to focus on.

If I were to do this task again, I would certainly put more thought into the photographs particularly. I need to learn to be more concise in my photography. I would like to be able to let the photographs do the talking rather than explaining what the photographs mean.

For the next project, I am going to take on board what my peers said and try and create something in more depth and with more flair.

NOTICING NOTICING

It’s impossible to remember every little detail or experience down to its minute details. Memories get cloudy, and it might just be me, but it’s getting harder and harder to distinguish between dreams and drunken states… As cliché as it sounds though, it is easy to remember details when you know what you’re looking for. Learning how to mark and record memories is an interesting process. I was walking down the street recently (as ya do) with a friend and I was consciously paying more attention to people around me, to try and boost my awareness. When I told him I noticed a guy with very broad shoulders and leathery legs, he realised he needed to pay more attention to the ‘freaks’ as he called them. But this isn’t about the ‘freaks’ of Melbourne; it’s about the mediated content packed into Melbourne Central. Here’s a bit of stuff that we found on our travels:

Emergency exit sign
Security camera
Melbourne Central clock
Train timetables
Tony Abbot flyers
Posters:

Rubbish/newspaper clippings
Piano surrounded by red velvet (red cord)
People using facebook everywhere
Radio/music in restaurants and shops
Train announcements
Background conversations
Mount Franklin bottle of water (advertising)
Coca Cola advertisement
Map of Melbourne Central (?)
RMIT drink bottle
Conversations with shop attendants
Film Art textbook
Aaaand Joe Hockey:

Yep, Joe Hockey

TUTORIAL DISCUSSION – SELF PORTRAIT

We’ve been asked to compile a self portrait made up of a variety of mediums. The catch (like the one below) is to do it without explicitly providing an image of ourself. I suppose the idea behind this is that a person’s identity online can be vastly different to their identity in real life. I guess it’s just a chance to be weird and creative too. Which is always fun.

It will be a challenge capturing character traits, but it will test our ability to think outside the box. My music background says the audio clips should be my strong points, but I can almost guarantee these will be the most difficult of the lot. Some serious thinking will be required for sure. My early ideas include recording a rehearsal, recording a commute to uni, or recording some piano. These are all things that audibly represent my day to day activities and hint at my character build up. But, they aren’t the most original… Visually, I might literally use some smoke and mirrors to capture some mind-boggling scenes. Who says I can’t be a magician? I just hope I don’t lose my mind over it.

YOUR RETENTION PLEASE

After spending a couple of years at RMIT, I feel comfortable with the practice of interactive lectures. It is a great way of engaging students and involving them rather than sitting and passively absorbing information for 2 or 3 hours. Being apart of the media means being able to interact and communicate with not only peers but potentially people outside of our comfort zones. These lectorials push the boundaries and will push development. But this seems to depend on how focused and willing we are as students.

The Deep attention/hyper attention reading task piqued my interest. It was a funny experiment, asking students to attend to an essay on attention span. I didn’t feel like a guinea pig or anything, it was just a clever way of getting the class to talk about study habits among other things. Our ability to disperse our attention while studying among media platforms is suggested to be a rapid form of hyper attention, or multitasking. Although, the reading suggested a decline in efficiency when it comes to multitasking, it seems to be a subjective matter. For me, listening to music while studying can create a comfortable atmosphere in which to study and focus. The comfort factor is very important to me when it comes to gettin’ stuff done. If I wasn’t comfortable then I would do absolutely nothing. Where’s the efficiency there? Perhaps it is the sweet rhythm of music that keeps me on track.

The reading encouraged me to think about the science behind retention of memory and this is something I am keen to explore. There is a definite relationship between Psychology and Media, and I want to understand it. Being able to give an explanation of the relationship would be better. Media is about getting inside people’s heads and tapping into their thought processes in order to create appealing content. To get through to an audience, you have to think like them. You have to be the audience. In this program, I expect we will have plenty of opportunities to be an audience member and plenty of opportunities to be a cast member. I look forward to collaborating and discussing with my peers.

If you’re game, have a watch of this video…

Source

Reference Material

N. Katherine Hayles (2007), ‘Hyper and Deep Attention: The Generational Divide in Cognitive Modes’, Profession, pp.187-199

– Gabriel