From this assessment and the work we have been producing and discussing as a class throughout weeks 1 and 2, I have learnt how much of the noticing I can recall from throughout my day. Especially the little details that I would otherwise of never thought about unless purposely doing so. This and the project work task showed me how different and intentionally and unintentionally noticing things in our environment, specifically how little I personally purposely notice. While filming my chosen thing to notice, ‘cracks’, I found myself constantly rejecting the world around me, purely focusing on the cracks themselves and my filming of them. This often lead to me missing aspects of my world I would normally notice, such as other people, or the road.  Furthermore, through this task i discovered that my neighbourhood is littered with cracks, and while the video contains a vast amount of 10 second videos of cracks in roads and walls, towards the end of my journey I was ignoring basic cracks and seeking out interesting and unique ones.

I also felt like my choice of cracks was quite fitting to the theme of non-fiction that both the course as a whole and this specific assessment task revolve around. These cracks were not made intentionally, and have come to light due to excessive pressure, age, possibly rushed work and/or chance. These cracks in themselves are a pure form of truth and reality. Furthermore, the sequence of these clips is in order of when i shot them, meaning I did not alter the story and journey of the video in a fictional way, but rather displaying the real and personal process of my walk to and from work. Like in the prescribed text, Reality Hunger, “Act naturally” (130)

I compiled two edits of this task, one with music and the diegetic sound of the shots, and one with just the audio from the shots. I was inspired to do this because of the group task in week 1, in which we chose a specific thing to go search and shoot (in our case, signs) and compile it, similar to the assessment task. During the editing process of the task, I felt like music enhanced the experience of the shots, creating a strong emotional feeling that accompanied the narrative of the shots. While compiling the assessment task video, I felt like experimenting with music, and seeing how different the version with and without music would be. I felt that the version with the track carried a lot more emotional weight to it, adding a sense of vulnerability to the cracks that was not necessarily felt beforehand, when the audio just contained background noise. The song I chose to incorporate into the musical version is called ttktv by Arizona hip hop group ‘Injury Reserve’.

Overall, the process of this assessment task felt like a success, and I feel like I have a greater understanding of what noticing and non-fiction really is.

Shields, David. Reality Hunger. Hamish Hamilton, 2010. pp. 48

Injury Reserve, 2015, ttktv, sound recording, Las Fuegas, Arizona