Fast single shot from lauren on Vimeo.
Monthly Archives: March 2014
Participatory mode – database documentaries – week 3
so, in my ever present abundance of work and readings and work and reading logs this week, i came across something from the cinema studies course that i felt very well attributes to what we’re doing over here in the study of Integrated Media. this was an excerpt from a somewhat lengthy book called the “introduction to documentary” by Bill Nichols about a specific tripe of documentary, the “participatory mode”. i have included the link below, hopefully you’ll be able to see it but you may not be able to without an RMIT login (although i doubt anyone reading this would be from outside RMIT anyhow so yay, readings for everyone!)
the book introduced something called “database documentaries” which seemed all too familiar to the “i-docs” which we read about in this course in week one. what the chapter discussed was how the participatory mode of documentary making sometimes extended beyond the interactions between the filmmaker and the subject of the film to being between the viewer and the film itself, thus making the audience a participant in the film, contributing to its structure and how it is viewed. this seems similar to the idea behind the korsakow films, where, as is mentioned in this book, the “viewer (is able) to chart a path through the spectrum of possibilities made possible by the filmmaker” and so each viewer, being a unique participant within the construction of the film, will have a unique experience of the film based on the choices they make and the paths which they follow.
it would seem that this new “participatory mode” or the database documentaries allow for a much richer viewing and storytelling experience, much like the korsakow films and the i-docs, which allow users to get what they want out of a film but also allow for potentially thousands of different ways to view one film, creating thousands of narrative possibilities. and it can only go up from here!
Sketch task 3 – something fast (multiple shots)
Fast multiple shots from lauren on Vimeo.
Sketch task 3 – something slow (single shot
Slow single shot from lauren on Vimeo.
Sketch task 3 – something slow (multiple shots)
Slow many shots from lauren on Vimeo.
how fast is slow? – week 3
more video tasks this week. i don’t want to say that it was difficult, but it wasn’t easy. somehow, no matter how simple these tasks seem at first glance, they really aren’t. so many different things and layers to think about, just to make a six send video. what do I include? what don’t i include? what angle? do i cut between shots? if so, for how long and how many cuts? do i show the whole thing or just a part? should there be good lighting?
but this week, the most difficult question for me was…. what constitutes fast and what constitutes slow? i mean, i know a car travelling at 100 km/h is fast and a snail is slow. but i wasn’t really in the mood to go stand on a bridge above the freeway, nor go find a snail that was actually moving. and even if said snail was moving, he probably wouldn’t move far enough in the 6 seconds for it to even seem like he (or she. do snails have a gender?) was moving at all. so, i conclude, i have to go somewhere in between a speeding car and a lazy snail. where does that leave me? it felt that no matter what i was filming, if i was going for a slow movement, it looked fast. but if i thought the object was fast moving, it seemed really slow.
for me this whole task was just about finding new objects and testing speeds and cutting and angles. it made it an interesting task to complete because i had to think about the stuff around me in new ways to how i’d looked at or used them before. although, anyone who follows me on vine probably thinks i’m insane. but that’s another story. i am however, excited to not only see how these all fit together with my others once i turn them into a sketch film, but also to see what the others in my class do, because last week everyones different videos were so very different and it will give me an all new perspective and new ideas on how to use speed in future filming.
i’ll wear the red hat
yellow was never really my colour anyway. last week in class we put on some imaginary coloured hats and critiqued each other’s videos. well, those who chose to volunteer their’s to be critiqued (i manage to muster up the courage to show mine by the end of class, who knew i had it in me?). and it was interesting. maybe not so much that hat part because there isn’t really much you can say thats too intellectual about 6 second videos about round things. but it was interesting to compare the kinds of videos other people in the class made in contrast to what i made. it just showed how everyone has such different opinions and ideas. and things they can view.
but it was also interesting to see people reactions to them. there was one video (i’m sorry, i don’t remember who’s it was) about shadow that had the silhouette of someone in their bedroom holding what appeared to be a belt. and this was a harmless video. someone was prob in their room, found good light for a shadow and grabbed something to hold against the wall. but everyone’s mind immediately jumped to a very dirty conclusion s we all collectively gasped and squirmed (not really sure how else to describe the reaction). but it was crazy how our minds immediately try to make connections about these sorts of things. so it will be interesting to see, when these all come together to form a connecting video, what kinds of links we will make and what narratives we will form.
would you like fries with that? – week 3
one of my favourite of the sketches that we went through in class last week was tiana’s sketch about the french fries at her work. and no, it’s not because i have a never ending crave and lust for chips (ok, that may be part of it). but i think it was because, of all the videos we watched, this one had the strongest narrative. and that seems crazy to say about a 6 second video that was just following the constraint of “something square”. especially because fries aren’t square, they’re rectangle (but that’s not important right now). but it did! it started with a frier. it could have had anything inside. the shots changed to different angles and we were intrigued, what was being fried? and then finally, the climax and conclusion, it was chips, golden and glistening. and we felt satisfied (except maybe our stomachs). compare that with my video of something square which was just six seconds of filming a painting on the wall of my house. hard to imagine much of a story there. so it fascinated me that in 6 second tiana could create a narrative using a frier and some chips. and i feel this really paves the way for the videos and tasks for the rest of semester, showing how things like i-docs and korsakow films can create stories and narratives out of simple, abstract videos about seemingly random and unrelated objects. wooooo for connectivity!
Participation Contract
this is my participation contract for integrated media
1. write at least 1 blog post per week about the readings. this includes thoughts on the readings, any questions about the content, possible connections between it and other readings or to the course as a whole. this is to consolidate what i have gained from the readings and get as much out of them as possible
2. at least 1 blog post each week discussing or reflecting on the set task. this reflection will include how the task was achieved, any difficulties that were faced and how they were overcome, why there may have been difficulties and how to prevent these from occurring in the future. also reflecting on the connections between the current and previous set tasks and with the overall course. this is to further consolidate understanding of the set task and its relation to the overarching meanings and outcomes of the course
3. making use of tags and categories. every post i do should belong to at least 1 category and have at least two relevant tags. by the end of semester i should be able to click on any tag and get a good idea of the topics i have covered throughout the 12 weeks. this includes being able to easily see which posts connect to relevant sections of this participation contract as well as how the posts relate to each other. this task is to improve my abilities online at creating linking databases, being able to set up a great blog where everything is readily accessible and understandable.
4. at least 1 blog post each week discussing and reflecting upon the lecture and/or the class discussions. this is to further consolidate the topics of the week both independently and in their relation to the readings and the overall course as a whole. this may also include a question that could be asked in the upcoming lecture.
5. 1 post commenting on/discussing or linking to another persons blog post. this is to provide a wider spread of information coming from different sources within the course but will still be relevant to the subject. it will also allow for greater connectivity and interaction between classmates.
all 5 of these points must be done before class each week to gain full marks. all 5 being completed will equal an HD, doing four a DI, 3 a C, 2 a P and 1 or 0 an F for that week and these will be tallied in week 12 to provide an overall grade for the semester.
Blogging success
so, we’ve been doing this course for about 3 weeks now (feels like less coz of that missed Monday) but it’s gong fairly well. been taking weird random videos that make my family think i’m insane (ok, more insane, than i normally am) and we got the chance to revisit our childhood with those lovely debono (is that how you spell it?) hats when critiquing each others weird random videos. still not too sure how we’re gonna use them.
on the plus side, i made it back into adrian’s commentary blog so woohoo to that! on an ever better plus side, one of my blog posts about the readings got a comment on it!! at first i thought it was from adrian, until i check it out and realised it was the author of the article that i was discussing as part of the reading!!! Bjørn Sørenssen, in the flesh. well, not really in the flesh coz it’s online so it’s more like in the code, but still!!!.
as you can imagine i freaked out. but it’s pretty awesome. i’m proud of myself anyways. if you wanna see, check out the post here.