Below is the link to the Korsakow video I have made;

http://projects.hannahbrasier.com/student-work/encountering-nature/

What I have discovered about noticing and nonfiction through this assignment is that nonfiction, and the world around us is constantly changing, and as humans we usually do not see these changes. Changes I specifically focused on in this assignment was how bugs can change nature such as the dirt they are walking on or how a butterfly or bee can change the way a flower moves. How wind can change the position and direction of leaves on a tree or tree branches, and how rain can change the colour of a rock or the texture of dirt. I have also discovered that nonfiction changes in a non linear manner. The world changes in random ways, and nature is constantly being encountered by other forms of nature and weather, which is what I focus on in my video.

The reason why I wanted to continue with using the theme of ‘encountering’, the theme I used for assignment 3, was because I became fascinated with the idea of nonhuman encounters. I learnt throughout doing this assignment and the last assignment, that encountering does not just have to involve humans. In fact, I discovered that humans do not notice or rarely notice encounters within nature occurring, and only when confronted with close-up footage of these encounters, like the encounters shown in my video, do they realise this. Whereas humans notice other humans encounter things all of the time, and that is why I wanted to direct my focus away from human interaction.

The process of noticing, to make audiovisual nonfiction has evolved for me from creating this video, as in the very beginning of the semester, I found the idea of noticing what I usually do not notice in my everyday nonfiction, extreamely challenging. I began to try to notice nonfiction by marking and recording down each time I would notice a ceiling for example, which is what I did for the first unmarked assignment for this course. Because I was not used to doing this in my everyday life, I did find this method quite forced as a lot of the time I would forget to film a new ceiling when I entered a new location.

Therefore, for assignment 4 I took a completely different approach and decided to simply go for a walk in the Wetlands near my house, knowing in the back of my mind that I must film natural encounters that occur. This was successful as I was always looking, yet not forcing to find encounters in nature, and did find many opportunities to take close-up shots of bugs encountering nature. However I realised that bugs encountering nature was the only types of shots I took, and I began to realise I had made my process of trying to notice too broad. Once I knew I needed to film natural encounters between bugs, rain and wind, I could then decide to film on a day it was raining or windy, in order for me to achieve the types of shots of encounters I wanted.

Looking back on the Semester as a whole, the three major learning outcomes for me were; in week 3, learning about noticing by only using sound and no visuals. I thought this concept was interesting, as I did learn that without visuals, the mind wonders, and the brain notices more as it tries to imagine what the matching visual to the sound is, and a person notices more about a space. Peter Cusack in his chapter in ‘Field Recordings as Sonic Journalism’ writes sound can “transmit a powerful sense of spatiality, atmosphere and timing.” Which is true and what I discovered in class when listening to ‘Starry Night’.

Another learning outcome throughout this course was the idea of a ‘blind spot’ in a photo or piece of media. In week 4, I remember as a class we looked at a photo Tiahne had taken of a building situated in a laneway, whilst also hearing a voiceover of her talking about everything else she noticed in or outside of the frame of the photo, which then made me notice more details about the photo. This also became evident in the reading for that week, ‘Ghostly forms and forest histories’ by Andrew Matthews, as he includes a photo of a tree stump, next to immense description of the forest the stump is in.

Finally, the last major learning outcome for me was in week 5, learning about James Benning and his work. This quote in the interview Benning gave where he says he can “see everything that moves because the camera doesn’t”, influenced my video for assignment 3, as I then decided to use a Tripod to make the camera still, so that even the tiniest encounter between an ingredient could be seen. I wanted to use this exact notion for assignment 4, yet without a Tripod to give the video a more personal effect, to bring the audience inside of the frame.

During Wednesday’s class of week 12, I, along with the other students who attended the class showed our rough edits or videos that we had so far. At this stage, I had not begun using Korsakow yet, as I had just exported all my videos from Premier Pro, ready to be used for Korsakow. Therefore what I could and did show the class on that Wednesday was each bug, rain and wind video that had been exported. I did not receive any constructive criticism on the actual videos, yet I received comments on how these videos could be key-worded and presented in Korsakow. What the students and Hannah noticed about my videos, was that they varied in the amount of encountering that was occurring. For example for some wind videos, leaves on a tree were moving fast and the power of the wind was obvious, yet for other wind videos, a vine would only slightly move. In the bug videos, some videos included hundreds of ants encountering a tree, and other videos included just one bug. And, in the rain videos, some videos included a few droplets landing on a lilypad, yet contrast with heavy rain on a river. Therefore I received feedback that I could perhaps keyword and categorise my videos into Korsakow, based on the level of encountering occurring in each video.

I took this feedback on board with me as I began playing around with Korsakow. Initially I was intimidated by using Korsakow, as it was a program I had never heard of let alone used before. What I could understand however, was how using keywords for each video, determines how the videos are displayed in the interface. It also determines the order of when each video will be displayed. First of all, I dropped the ‘exported’ folder which included all my videos videos that had been exported from Premier Pro, into Korsakow. I then gave each video an infinite amount of lives, and categorised each video into Keywords of either bug, rain or wind. However using those Keywords meant that not every video could be seen, as I realised all my Keyword ‘IN’ words and Keyword ‘OUT’ words were the same, which meant there was no way a new keyword could be shown. Therefore I listened to feedback I received and changed the keywords to ‘subtle’, ‘movement’ and ‘obvious’. In one video from each category I used the ‘IN’ Keyword as subtle and the ‘OUT’ word as movement, or the ‘IN’ Keyword as movement and the ‘OUT’ keyword as obvious. This therefore allowed a gateway in my video, for all videos to be clicked on or seen in the interface.

After hearing and taking on feedback from Hannah, as well as other students during Wednesday of week 11, I did feel more on track as to where my final video would be going. Therefore coming into week 12, I had all my videos of bugs, rain and wind exported on my laptop, except for a few more wind videos I still needed to take. I then knew I had enough footage to show a rough draft on the Wednesday of week 12, which made me feel as though I was not left behind. The class on Monday of week 12 was insightful, as Hannah discussed with the class in a deep and meaningful way, why ‘seeing the unseen’ really matters. What I understood, from Hannah’s discussion with the class is that the world is constantly changing and is extreamely complex, and if one believes that the world is simple and structured, they are not seeing the unseen. The unseen being every aspect of nonfiction that humans do not notice. The world is not just made for humans, the world is in Hannah’s words, “made up of humans and nonhuman entanglements.” Therefore the whole aim of the class ‘Seeing the Unseen’ is to explore, film and in general, create media which represents the complex world we live in. I really liked what Hannah said, that “stories are teleological and the world isn’t,” this sums up what I am attempting to achieve in my video for assignment 4. I am filming close up shots of bugs, waiting to see if any encountering occurs, and am doing the same for when I notice it is raining and when its also windy, to see what changes happen. The world is not teleological and that is what I hope I am capturing throughout my videos, and also through using Korsakow, as there is no one direct storyline that must be followed in my video.

In Monday’s class in week 12, as a class we also discussed and wrote down our specific tools for noticing as it relates to our assignment 4 video. Personally, I chose to focus on the importance of using close up shots to film natural encounters between bugs, rain or wind, as that is how humans can most clearly see these usually unseen encounters. Therefore I wrote that “a tool for noticing is…in order to notice small encounters within the environment, use close-up shots. Because close-up shots emphasise what is occurring within the frame and allows humans to notice what they usually miss.” This,  ‘a tool for noticing’ phrase will be included on my poster for the exhibition.

After having taken some footage of mainly bugs encountering plants during week 10 whilst I went on my walk, I knew I needed feedback during week 11. As well as allow myself the time to think about exactly how I want the end video to look and how I want the layout to be. Unfortunately I was not able to attend Monday’s class in week 11, however by looking on Canvas I understood what the class was about, Korsakow. The idea of using Korsakow for my final layout is an idea that has grown on me. At first, by looking at the instructions I was perhaps overwhelmed at the concept of using a completely new program, yet after having received feedback during Wednesday’s class, I believe Korsakow will be the most effective way to display my videos.

Wednesday’s class of week 11 was extremely valuable, as giving and receiving feedback for mine and other students videos was almost vital at this stage of the process for assignment 4. Initially, what I already knew before I was given feedback was I needed my overall vision for my videos to be specific. Although going for a walk without specific direction was a good start to filming and thinking about encountering, it meant that my videos were so far very similar. For example all the videos I could show other students and Hannah on Wednesday were close up shots of bugs encountering nature. Therefore I was not surprised when I received feedback from Hannah for me to film more than just bugs encountering nature, and to think more about nature as a whole. The specific feedback I received was to focus on filming in categories, such as videos of bugs encountering plants and also how weather encounters nature such as wind and rain. Therefore I intend to have all of my footage taken by Wednesdays class of week 12 of at least 10 videos each of bugs, rain and wind encountering nature. As once I have all my footage I can begin to categorise the videos by bugs, wind and rain onto Korsakow, to eventually make my videos an interactive experience for the final product.

From now, going forward with the assignment, I need to really think about how something changes something else. Such as how rain can change the appearance of a rock or how wind can change the way leaves move. A way I could visually look at this occurring was through the film ‘Microcosmos’ which Hannah recommended I watch. This film is a perfect example of what I am attempting to achieve. This film, directed by Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pèrennou captures extreme close ups of bugs in their natural habitat, as well as rain and wind. Therefore ‘Microcosmos’ was my final inspiration, before I took the last of my videos and used Korsakow.

During Mondays class of week 9, I wrote down a rough plan and vision for how I want the process of making my video to be, in terms writing down the biggest idea, big and smallest ideas for my video. In the biggest section I wrote that what I want to achieve for assignment 4 is, to enable my audience to notice their surroundings within nonfiction that includes encounters which involve elements of nature, non-human being organisms such as bugs, and the weather such as wind and rain. I want to do this through filming these encounters between nature using extreme close up shots via an iphone, as an iphone will allow me to get as close as I need to the nature. Therefore the overall biggest thing I want to film and achieve in one sentence, is I want my audience to be exposed to different types of encounters within nature  that usually goes unnoticed.

The ‘big’ steps I wrote down that are involved in achieving ‘the biggest thing’ were to explore outside and open my eyes to see the types of encounters that involve nature. To film up to between 20 seconds to 1 minute of each type of encountering moment I notice and if the sound in the footage is very prominent, I will re record just the sound of the encountering to maybe overlay in the editing if it works. However the first big step before the filming begins is doing research on the idea of encountering between organisms and not humans. So far between weeks 9 and 10 I have come across two readings, Screening Nature: Cinema beyond the Human by A. Pick and G. Narraway and Encountering the World: Toward an Ecological Psychology by E. Reed, which I go into further detail in my Research Blog Posts. This academic research has enabled me to think further about non human contact or impact when it comes to encountering within nature, and what sorts of encounters naturally happen all the time without human interaction or interference.

Therefore, after I did my research, I understood a unique way to film was to focus on filming extreme close up shots of encountering occurring within nature. To try to achieve this, I decided to literally go for a walk along the river near my house. During my first walk I did try to focus on small encounters particularly between bugs. For example I filmed close up shots of ants encountering leaves or trees, or bees encountering flowers. I focused mainly on filming close up shots of bugs, live organisms that encounter nature, moments of nonfiction that humans do not tend to notice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v0_LIzbxgE

This particular video is a type of creative source I am very inspired by as it depicts exactly how I want my close up shots to look, and not only the close up shots but the subject in the video as well. Although the time lapse in this video works effectively, for my video, I will not be able to achieve a time lapse such as this. Yet I can definitely capture close up movement shots of dirt, by filming bugs encountering the dirt.

This source relates to noticing as the extreme close up shots capture the seed encountering the earth as it grows through the earth, which allows viewers to notice what other encounters happen in the everyday nonfiction world that are usually unseen. I am inspired by this video to use again, the close up shots used, to really emphasise the encountering within the frame. In this video, the use of still frame is really effective, yet it does not give this video a personal effect, and lets the audience observe from afar what is occurring in the frame. However for my video, I intend on not having a still frame, so the viewers are really drawn into the encountering, and just observing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cno6SSpkBV0

This source is about how the close up footage can clearly capture an ant encountering plants. This relates to noticing nonfiction in media practice as the close up shots enable the viewers of this media to witness the ant encountering nature, as usually humans do not or are not able to witness such types of nonfiction in their everyday life. I might use the idea of filming something similar, such as small bugs encountering their natural habitat. This particular creative source  I found on You Tube from the Channel Explore&Capture Moments. What drew me to being intrigued by this video is how encountering can include so many aspects of nature and life. I did relate to this video straight away, as just like this video, I too intend on filming with my iphone. To be able to capture, through close-up or extreme close-up shots, the earth being encountered by weather such as wind or rain. Yet also how live organisms such as bugs can encounter the earth, and what kinds of effects that may have. Therefore I Intend to film and use close up shots of bugs such as ants, similar to what is shown in this video.

This reading is about how people may notice encounters ecologically. As in the book, ‘Encountering the world: Toward an Ecological Psychology’, it makes reference to what J.J Gibson used to say about encountering, that “specific to the organism in its environment, information enables me to encounter my surroundings, to regulate my encounters and to be aware of my activities in the living world.”(Pg 7). This source does relate to noticing nonfiction through media as it refers to the different ways in which encountering can happen, which allows me to want to film those encounters to have my audience notice more about encountering throughout nonfiction. I would like to use this quote to influence the types of encounters I will film.

This reading helps me to try to think outside of the box when I think about what encounters I could potentially notice and film. Also the idea of regulating my encounters is interesting as perhaps keeping track of the encounters I notice will be helpful as I go about filming. As whilst I regulate and keep note of the encounters I notice, I could perhaps place the encounters into categories, depending on the types of encounters within nature I come across. This reading has enabled me to realise there are no boundaries when it comes to nature, and this does seem overwhelming. However I could tune in on specific forms of nature. Like the reading suggests, to be specific to the organism in its environment, is to focus on literally, specific organisms in an environment as well as in a figurative sense, be specific about what I notice.

https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=E1LZ5Uac-QsC&oi=fnd&pg=PA3&dq=organisms+encountering&ots=ubHaWUK5UQ&sig=waD_ZosLFpwYgrmzNtlEw4y44dU#v=onepage&q=organisms%20encountering&f=false

For assignment 4, I would like to continue building on the idea of encountering, yet not with people. I have become intrigued with the idea of organisms, any form of life encountering, types of encountering that humans have become accustomed to not notice. Perhaps because we now live in such a built up  industrial and technological world, we only notice encountering if it involves us or other humans. Especially the encountering of cars when they have an accident, or the encountering of a human encountering car, or when humans encounter other humans. However what I have come to realise is encountering is always happening in this world that we are not aware of, or subconsciously choose not to pay attention to.

In the book Screening Nature, by A. Pick and G. Narraway, I was inspired by the approach the book takes to the importance of nature within film, to pay “attention to the interdependence of the natural world and humans within it”(Pg. 5), and how different discourses come to “bear on cinema’s relation to nonhuman and nonhuman beings”.(Pg 5)

In my film for assignment 4, I want to emphasise nature eg, non human beings and live organisms encountering the natural world, in a way humans do not usually notice. This reading, Screening Nature, reiterates my stance on the importance of nature in film, and to highlight nature in films in a way that is not usually done, as usually it is humans who are constantly the forefront in films. As the reading make it clear that “it is not simply a matter of claiming that nature is central to a film but showing how film and nature commingle in culturally situated and context-specific ways.” (Pg 6).

This academic reading does relate to noticing nonfiction through media as it discusses the idea of cinema and film in general, focusing more on non human beings rather than human beings. Therefore a human audience can notice more about their nonfiction through watching nonhuman beings on film, hence for my video I would like to use the idea from the reading, which is filming non human beings in my video.

https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=qPUcAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP3&dq=james+benning+film&ots=sxGe1-7fAP&sig=TN30YT36HVjRDLuN2dlcA4vSXBo#v=onepage&q=james%20benning%20film&f=false