Final Participation Questions

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What did you do well?

I think that this semester I learnt how to use Korsakow well and help others on how to use it. At first it was a strange foreign concept of which I had no previous experience with that I had to learn to adapt to. Whenever I struggled with the program I would investigate how to solve the issue or I would watch an online video which would explain to me how to do it. So I believe I learnt how to work independently and do a lot of problem solving.

What have you learnt to do better?

I have learnt how to do more consistent blogging and relate my ideas to others in their blogs. I also learnt not to take a constraint and see it not as a limitation but more freeing, as I could creatively interpret it in any way I wanted.

What could you have learnt to do better?

I think I could have learnt how to be more interactive with regards to the symposiums and coming up with questions which I wanted to be answered. I also could have learnt to give more in depth ideas in relation to the readings as opposed to just general summaries or notes on ideas which I found interesting.

There was one aspect of my contract which I struggled to keep up with, which was online investigation and web documentaries. I did go through online web documentaries several times, after which I found it helped me understand some of the readings. Had I done this more I may have gained more understanding of the course.

Peer Perve Week 11

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This week, when looking around at my peers blogs, I found it interesting to read what Lauren had to say on individual experiences with our snow, and weather or not it was important to have an end SNU to clarify that the K-Film had come to the end. I think this is an interesting idea because if I think back to the K-film analysis we did of previous peers work, there was an end SNU for the dreamcatcher k-film I analysed. To match with the theme of dreaming, the SNU which ended the film was an eye opening i.e. awakening from the dream. Lauren goes on to question that if everyone has different experiences of our K-films dependant on the way we structure our In and Out words, then is it a good idea to have an end SNU that all users will have to see to end the experience? For our k-film, I think that that idea could work quite well in the sense that maybe we can end on a positive note of addiction? Whilst majority of our k-film will be about addictions which are thought of in a negative manner, some will be positive. But we don’t want an overall depressing film. The way we want it to work is that you gravitate towards thumbnails you find most interesting. Someone who is more romantically inclined, therefore, will click on a thumbnail of a couple holding hands (to symbolise the addiction of love) but others who perhaps are more edgier or are interested in the darker side of drugs, may click on more thumbnails which look like pills etc. Maybe our final SNU should be relief from addiction? It has to be something different to signify and ending. That is if we actually do want an end SNU. We will have to work it our as a group.

Week 11 Reading

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Wow this reading was not a nice one. “The affordances of networked connectivity offer the potential to re-contextualise documentary material through mobilising the enormous co-creative potential of human discourse captured in the web. The challenge in these marriages of mass media form and rhizomatic network is to find new ways of shaping attention into a coherent experience. To do so we have to re-invent the social praxis of documentary, creating new visual and informational grammars.” Struggled to get through that one and it was one of the opening paragraphs.

Pretty much the reading went on to talk about how data is changing and how, simultaneously, our way of receiving and interpreting this data is also growing. The reading also went on to explain how documentary film has influenced changing the world, as opposed to simply just observing and recording it. I think this is an interesting point and one which relates to our other subject, True Lies: Documentaries. Representation is the key to communication.

So what does this mean when we look at the online models of documentation? As the web coding language HTML5 is becoming more of an integrated web technology as opposed to a simple add on, new connections can be made between source.

The discussion of the interface used in online documentary We Feel Fine was really a fascinating one. It essentially related to patterns on several different blogs which mentioned the same choice phrases or words. Each user has a unique experience when interacting with this documentary. It drew upon samples from the blogsphere and created something beautiful from it.

Analysis Reflection Question 3

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When watching the scene from Blow Up, it was obvious how much choreography and direction had been administered throughout. One of the biggest elements of the construction of the scenes which stood out to me was the placement of the subjects in relation to the objects and props around them. At various times, the female actor would be dodging in, out and around props, which would inevitably have caused a variety of different shadows, had the cinematographer not considered lighting which would ensure she would be illuminated consistently. Furthermore, the actors are regularly framed within interestingly shaped props i.e. traiangluar wood fixtures or behind couches. This makes the image more visually stimulating to look at, because it isn’t just the standard setting and standard props.

It seems that as the actors are walking from the back of the frame to the front, the focus would have to change in order to keep them sharp. In order to do this, many rehearsals would have to be had for the camera operator to determine the correct pull of focus (which he would mark with a sticker and perhaps have an assistant help him to do so, as we learnt in one of the lectures).

The actors almost always are moving around. The actors are amazing and captivating. Their motion around the set as instructed by the director, only makes them more interesting to observe. They never seem to stand still, and so, many different shots would have to be blocked and used. There are various times where it seems as if the actors have awkwardly been framed i.e. the shot where the woman stands up from the couch opposite the man, but the top halves of their bodies are cut off by a ceiling fixture. This is a creative choice made by the filmmaker, and is actually quite interesting to see. There also always seems to be objects in the frame which, if they were removed, could result in a more aesthetically pleasing shot. An example is pieces of the photography equipment which seem to protrude from the bottom or top of the frame at different times. It is as if the camera is placed in the scene, and we are amongst the action, for we are consistently surrounded in the objects which make up the space; never is the camera segregated from them.

 

Analysis Reflection Question 2

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Lighting continuity is a factor of lighting which I had never really considered or thought about until I came across it in the week 7 reading. Lighting needs to be maintained in a scene or else it will be noticeable in the edit of the film. For instance, if we have lighting which is bounced onto a white board onto an actor, then we re-take the shot and change the angle, the lighting will be slightly different. This could be a problem if we are using several different smaller shots from different takes. The foreground must remain consistent to the background lighting. If light streams in through a window and makes the scene lighter, that will be noticeable, unless that transition in lighting is recorded on film and used. When I was reading about lighting consistency, I was interested to read about how the subject could be more illuminated without lighting up the background more and hence the skin tones would change. I thought about how lighting continuity would be a massive factor we would have to consider for our short film. If we are doing a close up shot, we should increate the fill light so that there is not a drastic change.

Another reading which I found quite valuable was the week 7 reading on lighting a scene. The subject in particular was controlling hard light. This was particularly interesting to me becuase I knew that we would be working with uncontrollable sunlight which can be quite harsh and strong. The black boards (aka cutters) can be used to cut off the light and create a shadow where needed. If the day is a really bright one and there is a lot of backlight, then a cutter can be used over the actors face to diminish the harsh contrast in lighting and shadow. Another way a cutter can be used is to block out the microphone shadow if it is casting one. We may need heaps of cutters because if the sun only creates a head on lighting, we need to diminish the lighting in the foreground so as to break up the light. Something I found really amazing is that Philip Lathrop once had up to 20 cutters on the scene just to control the harsh lightig. Let’s just say, I hope it is overcast.

Analysis Reflection 5 Question 1

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In lecture 7, lighting was the main topic of discussion. In the lecture, Paul and Robin discussed how lighting can work to illuminate the subject in a variety of different ways. Using Will as the model, the light was reflected on one side of his face, creating a very harsh contrast between the illuminated side and dark shadow side of his face. In order to eliminate the harshness of the straight on light, the white board was strategically placed so that the light would bounce off it. This technique was identified as allowing us to create softer light on the subjects. It utilized the key lighting by bouncing it back onto the subject.

Other areas of lighting which were covered included a discussion on three point lighting, as well as the differences between artificial and natural lighting. Lighting can greatly influence the theme of the film, as dark dingy lighting creates a parallel dark mood, but bright, sunny lighting communicates a happier feeling. Similarly, lighting can compliment the communication of a characters personality or emotion. We also learnt that we must also use sand bags and that the lights can get quite hot.

 

Lighting was an area production which I have very little experience with dealing with. Usually the short films/videos that I have done as an ‘amature’ rely solely on lights which can be easily accessed (i.e. just the sunlight or house lights). This lecture, and the accompanying tutorial explaining all the uses and benefits of the different types of lights, was extremely helpful for our project. One is able to creatively influence majority of the film through lighting, and so it is a crucial element of our project which shouldn’t be overlooked. After the lecture I was enlightened in the area of lighting and had ideas as to what we could utilize for our short film. Mainly I was keen to use the white and black boards in order to cut off or diffuse light, as we knew we would be working with natural sunlight and so had to be prepared to bounce light or create shadows.

Peer Perve Week 9

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This week I was trolling through Bec’s blog and found this piece  which mentioned the the Humans of New York Blog. This was the most exciting thing, because I absolutely love this blog and all of Brandon Stanton’s work. I came across one of his posts in my newsfeed on Facebook one because a friend had liked the picture he uploaded. So I went to his page, and instantly found myself addicted to the broken fragments of New York, brought together through a collection of photos and tastefully chosen quotes to match.

What makes the Humans of New York (HONY) blog so inspirational is that it is completely and brutally honest. Brandon has stated that as his blog had grown and developed, it has become less and less about the pictures and and more about the interview he has with the subject, getting to know them and their story.

I can see how Bec would have seen the similarities between this blog and the k-films. The pictures do not link together, there are no clear patterns between subjects. They are literally just the random subjects Brandon finds on his day out in the city. The quotes which accompany the pictures are about anything (generally about life or something which has happened to the subject). As you keep clicking through the gallery of photos, someone new pops up, and something new is said.

The interface of Facebook has made Brandon a worldwide phenomenon, as the comment, like and share feature has spread his work around to reach the screens of many. It is truthful to what happens in day to day life, and is essentially a documentary of people found in New York.

Reading Week 10

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Luers, Will. “Plotting the Database.” Database | Narrative | Archive: Seven Interactive Essays on Digital Nonlinear Storytelling. Ed. Matt Soar and Monika Gagnon. N. p., 2013. Web.

  • Database narratives: narratives where there is essentially no plot, no character development, no clear development of story etc mainly due to a “computer’s networked and modular environment”. Whilst it seems like there is no clear narrative construction within a database narrative, there are some elements of it.
  • According to Jerome McGann: A database requires a user interface to function. A database is organised and provides an initial “critical analysis of the content materials”. This doesn’t necessarily mean it is a narrative.
  • With a plot, it is generally within one space and time and continues on to make sense and link together. Significant turning points create their own interface where a viewer may understand what has happened, what is happening and what might happen.
  • An example given is one of the database of the information related to a particular scene by Sergei Eisenstein in Alexander Nevsky’s film. The different elements of the scene are laid out so that we may see how they relate to one another: how the visual links to the music which links to the movement etc. This is a database, and it allows the viewer to quickly gather an interpret information.
  • If an interface is unable to quickly and effectively receive or gather information then it is essentially not a well designed one.
  • An interface changes by the direction in which the user chooses to take it.
  • A plotted interface “withholds as much as it reveals” i.e. relays certain information by not including certain parts.
  • An entry point is a portal from the interface to the database. The entry point should prep the user for interaction.
  • Macro level: what we see at face value. Micro level: deeper meaning and understanding.
  • The Whale Hunt is Jonathan Harris’ interactive photo essay. Macro level: a sea of colour made from the photos contained within the photo essay. Macro level: an understanding and emotional connection as the whale hunt unfolds.
  • You may click on whichever photo you want throughout the interactive photo essay (as allowed by the interface), making it a non-linear narrative.
  • Missing Data –> absence = presence. This is a writing technique which I remember being taught in school. Less is more; what you leave out can sometimes be more effective than what you choose to include.
  • When we absorb a story, it will depend on our previous experiences and what we bring to our understanding of the narrative. There is a network in our minds over what information is being received and what we are adding in and decoding ourselves.
  • “Empty space or “white space,” a graphic device that gives visual structure to “content,” might also be used as a narrative device to structure meaningful absences.”
  • If data is excluded its importance is questioned.
  • In “Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry” there is a very ambiguous opening, which doesn’t really give much information away about how the two people who owned the items in the catalogue broke up. In presenting viewers with this phase which is open to interpretation, it then allows the viewer to interpret the pictures openly. They are unsure what to look for and so, look for any clue that they can. Each page presents a new interface presenting the photos and information differently each time.
  • The various different interfaces used in media force the viewers attention to follow certain lines of inquiries and focus i.e. big bold titles, colourful pictures etc.
  • When there are multiple images on a page, it becomes a spacial montage where the screen is the interface. Our ability to utilise our distributed attention allows us to make meaning from the pictures and find links between them.
  • depending on the interface, the multiple pictures on a screen can either compete for attention, disrupt the plot, create a simultaneous narrative or result in confusion/misdirection due to information not having any relation at all.
  • An interface also uses graphic devices to help navigation i.e. hyperlinks, titles subtitles etc. An example is Facebook, where there is a clear banner at the top, and links to other pages in blue and white (or a change in the cursor symbol). These graphical devices are not content, they are just an aid.
  • Relational events: “An interface is perhaps more engaging when displaying subjective time through spatial relationships. For example, a small frame embedded within a larger frame can spatially denote a “flashback.” Grids, timelines and nested narratives (mise en abyme) act both as framing device – for how to read one narrative in light of others – but also as a way to graphically model the nonlinearity and recursion in thought and experience.”

Here at Home – Interactive Documentary

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Here at Home is an interactive web documentary about homelessness. It was a radical experiment to see if they could end homelessness. The interactive online documentary began with a short introduction. This introduction bombarded the viewer with statistics and information about homelessness and set the tone for the documentary.

At Home Intro

 

From here, there was a page with hundreds of coloured dots.

Interface 1By hovering the mouse over one of the cities, information would appear giving the statistics of homelessness in that city. When I clicked on, for example, Vancouver, the website would transform to make Vancouver the main title, then giving all relevant information related to the study around it.

Interface 2By clicking on the central circle, the video about the study in Vancouver would play. Otherwise, by clicking on the various statistics on the right hand side, the viewer could find out different additional information about the study.

The range of colours and shapes throughout this documentary made it one that was exciting to look at. It seemed highly professional and was very aesthetically pleasing to look at. The interface complimented the story of the homelessness very well. It was easy to navigate and it was easy to get from it the information I wanted.