Here are three quotes that help me and make me think about my project:
“The film presents a process, but it does not tell a story in the manner of narrative film”
“Another way in which the filmmaker can maintain our interest across the segments is through patterned use of film techniques”
“The experimental filmmaker may tell no story”
Frankham, Bettina Louise. “Complexity, Flux, and Webs of Connection.” A Poetic Approach to Documentary : Discomfort of Form, Rhetorical Strategies and Aesthetic Experience. (2013). 137-176
Here are three quotes that interested me from this reading:
You enjoy
“He suggests that objects do not relate merely through human use, but through any use, including all relations between one object and any other”
Trouble you
“But we can no longer claim that our existence is special as existence”
Intrigue you
““To be a speculative realist, one must abandon the belief that human access sits at the centre of being, organising and regulating it like an ontological”
Chapter 1 – Alien Phenomenology (Ian Bogost)
“To be a speculative realist, one must abandon the belief that human access sits at the centre of being, organising and regulating it like an ontological”
This passage intrigued me. Mostly because I had no idea what speculative realism is. Speculative realism opposes the former modern dogma that philosophy can speak only of the human-world relation rather than the world itself. I should take this on board and explore my media ‘thing’ as a speculative realist.
Chapter 2 – Ontography (Ian Bogost)
“Ontographical cataloguing hones a virtue: the abandonment of anthropocentric narrative coherence in favour of worldly detail”
This passage relates directly to what we have been discussing in our studio about narrative and how things exist in their own world and don’t follow narrative like us humans do.
Unfortunately due to technical issues I was unable to access the following article for reading:
Frankham, Bettina Louise. “Complexity, Flux, and Webs of Connection.
“Apple could very easily have forgone forging to create stainless steel cases, just like everyone else”
Its true. They could have. Hardening gold alloy with cold-working could have been eliminated. But that would make them on par with the rest of the industry. Apple wishes to stand out with a perfect product. As an example of their dedication, no one will see or feel the inside pocket for the microphone on the Sport Watch, yet it has been laser finished to perfection. Apple are upping the standard as to compete with companies with many more years experience in the industry.
We were asked to pick any ‘thing’ (object, artefact, tool, event etc.) and draw a map showing all the parts that make up, influence, effect, are influenced by this media thing. I have been unwell and missed the beginning of this task, but it was a learning experience in itself watching my classmates present their maps.
Artefacts that other members of the studio chose included scripts, camera, the human body and more. Many admitted to going to broad with their topic and that was also common in the feedback. Therefore I’ve learnt its important to pick a specific topic and really explore it. According to Adrian we should move away from the generalisations and examine a very specific thing. For instance, choosing ‘magazines’ is too general, however a specific article in a magazine is more appropriate.
So what is the difference between what a thing means versus what a thing does?
It’s important to remember that an object ‘exists in their own world’. So what’s important to us isn’t necessarily important to the thing. For instance, light is important for a camera. A camera needs light to function. Furthermore its interesting to note that most of the world doesn’t operate through narrative despite common belief. Humankind is responsibly for narrative. To showcase, the Zebra’s were happy to cross the road whether someone was watching them or not.
So when exploring an artefact one should think to themselves ‘If it made a story about itself, what would it say’?
An interesting idea that I hadn’t really thought of before today is that all our media comes from the ground. Therefore our media has a relationship to the earth. Think about it.
Today we started to establish our studio on Documentary Ontography. We discussed what a studio is and why the studio system exists. A common theme among the many descriptions was that a studio is a space in where people can learn, write and create. Our studio is the environment in which we will learn over the next semester. A studio is not just the physical space, it’s the people within it whom discuss, learn and create.
Last network class. Ticking it off
