Reflection | Michael Firus

Media Audit: The Train

Unless it’s your very first time, you probably spend the majority of our commute glued to that kaleidoscope of information: the mobile handset. But if one’s newsfeed was hypothetically all caught up on, maybe one would start to notice the multitude of other mediated information sources around and outside the carriage: All station signs along…

Textual Analysis: History, Wider Context and Importance

Textual analysis is something that is done to some extent constantly and everywhere. Alongside humanity’s development of written language, the need for mutual understanding between the communicator and the communicant grew. At least this was how it most likely was early on. As the idea of culture developed and people began to formulate more and…

Roosters and Red Tape

I distinctly remember the first time I decided to do something with a camera that went past the “play with” mentality. Coming from a photographic background, my Dad felt it necessary, sometime after my 9th birthday, for me to have a camera. It was at that time that I decided to make a film. The…

Adaptation.

I think most year 11 media students have heard of this film. Only because it featured prominently in the screenwriting section of the curriculum textbook. This was my only experience with the film before the screening, and I must say, despite the trendiness of bad-mouthing Nicolas Cage as an ‘over-actor’, I found the film quite…

Experimental Film

Experimental film is a rather difficult area of cinema to define. These, however, are its general characteristics: Experimental films are deliberately nonconformist and usually independent of the commercial elements of film-making. Usually instead of a story in a conventional sense, sentiment, mood, or viewpoint are used to construct meaning. Some examples: Ballet Mécanique (1923–24): Ballet…

Trailer: Holy Motors, Leos Carax’s tentatively categorized fantasy drama is one of those films. One of those films where no one is completely sure what on earth is going on. This is because the film explicitly rejects any sort of logical structure or definitive interpretation. However, my opinion on the issue of the films interpretation…

Melbourne Central – A Media Audit

Most likely, as a seasoned inhabitant of a bustling metropolis, you give absolutely no thought to the constant bombardment of media that you sometimes unknowingly wade through during your morning commute. Thus, I present a survey of all the types of mediated interactions/communications encountered during a casual stroll through Melbourne central. Up high: Art installations…

Evoking Hate – Editing in Practice

“Montage is an idea that arises from the collision of independent shots” – Sergei Eisenstein Editing can do amazing things. I decided to pull out some old footage (of me) and create something that explored how editing can create meaning. I decided to use footage that seems totally out of context with the main action…

Deep vs Hyper Attention

The question of the merit of deep vs hyper attention-span is a prickly one to confront. It is unpleasant because at some point it leads to a self-reflection of how efficient am I? It can be constructive in this sense, but nonetheless unpleasant. It is a question explored by N. Katherine Hayles in this article…