michael, media work

This week in workshop period we were tasked with creating an experimental audio piece on the topic of our obsession with personal media devices. We went out and recorded sound effects and dialogue in groups around campus then individually edited and mixed the recordings using Adobe Audition or Audacity. On reflection, working in a group to record the material for this task worked well as we all had something to contribute and could record interview style Q&As with multiple people. I personally have basically zero experience with recording and mixing audio except for the study periods last year I spent aggressively reading sections of my bio textbook to rap beats with a group of people in the least productive study room ever. I definitely found the mixing a bit difficult and probably butchered it pretty badly on this. Using Adobe Audition however was easier and more intuitive than I expected on the whole as it’s vaguely similar to Premier Pro. I think I was going for a GTA style comedy radio show sort of thing in this recording with the royalty free music and sound effects I used in the audio clip (sources listed in the Soundcloud description). I also wanted the clip to end on a bang so that’s where the gunshots and distorted sirens come in Tom doing a bird impression however was the final banger to end this horribly mixed audio clip. Definitely something to do differently next time would be to try and make the recordings relatively the same volume.

First of all RIP ODD FUTURE, ur still being missed.

This film, featuring music from Left Brain of the now dead group, OFWGKTA stood out to me the first time I watched it a few years ago (it’s since been re-uploaded) both for the ODD FUTURE connection as well as the impressive cinematography, the whole look of the film too captured my attention with the warm faded colours of LA in the evening transitioning into the night. There is a huge range of shots used in the sequences of this film including tracking shots extreme close-ups and distant drone shots creating a sense of a larger world and a vibrant atmosphere within the film while still focusing primarily on the ‘lone skater’ almost the whole time. There is also an underlying positive message here too of course but I think primarily this film is just enjoyable for the creativity and skill used to make something of this quality.

I really like this subtle style of storytelling and I think this is the sort of film I’d aspire to make myself.

This interview is going to be nothing like what most people have done or were expected to do. I kinda started and quickly realized that I couldn’t turn back so I committed to the direction I had taken. *The instrumental beats used were from a Matatabi tape that my friend brought online (the creator intending them to be brought by people wanting to use them either in music or videos) and all of the background stuff shown is either stock footage, stuff made or filmed by people I know personally, my own stuff or had been labeled as “royalty free internet junk” to be downloaded. I think while it’s definitely not going to be shown as an example of a professional looking interview any time soon I did manage to capture the atmosphere of the house and the creative culture of some of my best friends that has me going back to stay most weekends. Whether it’s the constantly playing RnB & Trap music somewhere in the house and the resulting kitchen dances while food is being prepared or the ever changing mass of tags covering the fridge, this place is awesome! I think the most successful part of this video is that as I said I feel like I’ve provided an accurate portrayal of these guys that is much more true to how I know them than if I had have done a more formal interview, I also feel like if I’m honest I learnt more about how to use premier pro and specific effects this was especially Keying and green screen style stuff, what works / doesn’t work (you definitely want a wall or backdrop that doesn’t vary much or at all in colour or tone.

I think that a problematic factor of my project is that I really strayed far from what was expected and did something that’s probably better suited to watching with friends at a party or in the future when we’re old rather than presenting it as an assessment task. I had difficulty seeing and judging what this would look like when it was exported because my computer lags horribly trying to watch stuff back in Premier Pro, this definitely made it frustrating but overall I didn’t run into many technical difficulties here. We used two cameras to shoot this, my Olympus and Adam’s Panasonic also making use of tripods and sliders that were on hand. I didn’t borrow any equipment for this task and I think In future I may take the chance to make better use of the resources available. It’s the first time I’ve ever made a video like this and I’m happy with how it turned out on the whole. I think possibly my biggest problem here is that I interviewed multiple people instead of one, so the dialogue is kind of all over the place, from my perspective having known these guys all this stuff makes sense but from the perspective of the audience they’ll just be some weird blokes sitting on a couch I guess. That’s one thing I really didn’t consider, having said that do I regret making this?.. no not at all… Yet 😉

interview from Michael Tucci on Vimeo.

So in this lecture we learnt about broadcast practices and how they’ve changed over time, from the earliest days of TV to our content saturated world we know today.  A big part of this evolution has been the ability to directly cater media to particular groups or demographics within society as a whole. Another key point discussed in this lecture was the changing culture of audiences and ‘fandoms’. Henry Jenkins’ book “Textual Poachers” (1992) was given as an example of a formal look at what it means to be a fan and the further implications of the label “fan” as well as the transforming post-broadcast mediascape in which fans became a key part of broader media ecology. A product of this evolution of audience culture was that fans became much closer and involved in the creative process for creating popular shows or stories within pop culture especially with the newfound sharing potential of the internet. These days fans may even be said to extend texts or created universes through their own creativity. The BIG question here however being whether this sort of fan culture has been exploited or consumed by mainstream media? “The People Formerly Known As The Audience” is another text brought up within the lecture that discusses the blurring boundaries between producers and consumers as well as the boom in user generated content. A clear example of this kind of crossover is YouTube as vloggers or large well known channels (such as John Hicks, Adam22 & Mighty Car Mods) especially encourage and build from audience involvement and suggestions.

 

This week in class we were tasked with creating a short film under the title /  theme of “The Pursuit”. What set this task apart from others we’ve done this semester is that we weren’t allowed any editing / post production except for putting the shots into order. This film also had to be shot in order making the process of brainstorming and story-boarding all the more important. The original idea was to have a giant chicken steal the money but due to a large amount of animal based humor in recent tasks in the class in general that idea was scrapped. It was funny not being able to cut and edit any of the footage, although luckily we only made one clear mistake when it came to starting / finishing filming the individual clips. The brainstorm process was definitely enjoyable with lots of funny stuff being bounced around. One thing we did well I feel was to plan ahead with the constraints in mind as on the whole it wasn’t a huge effort to put the planned shots into practice. Often I think when it comes to doing these sorts of things the main problem and reason a lot of time tends to get wasted is that the original plan often gets changed multiple times when filming starts as creative and complex shots and ideas often are hard to film within a small amount of time and on campus in my experience. So in that respect I think we did pretty well.

 

 

Frank Ocean gave us all a pleasant surprise a couple of days ago by dropping this new single. I was immediately drawn to it, not only because I love Frank Ocean but also simply because of it’s name and the fact that the artwork features a bmx bike. I really like the contest of styles within the track between the three artists with Jay Z doing the intro in his classic style (his voice too is unmistakable) before Frank comes on and the song takes on a more relaxed acoustic and melodic style. Tyler the creator Comes on last again with an unmistakable voice and style being slow , low pitched and mellow. I’m rubbish at writing about or reviewing music but I’ve been listening to this song a lot and like any of Frank Ocean’s songs it carries a unique feel for me. I’ll definitely chuck this one on next time I’m out riding or filming at night. I really liked the way that this track reminds me of older Frank and Tyler songs that they both appear on such as “She”, “Golden Girl” or even “Sunday” which is from Earl Sweatshirt’s freshman album “Doris”. Long story short it feels like a return to classic form for Frank while remaining fresh and new at the same time. I like to imagine I’m cruising around Venice Beach skatepark with the likes Nate Richter and Reed Stark at sunset when I listen to this because I’m a huge dag like that haha. Top song go listen.

In the lecture this week (which I was on time to) I know I’m so proud of myself. We learned about the art of the interview and got an overview of what to consider under the main aspects of who, what, when, where as well as the questions asked themselves. It turns out you need to consider a lot more than simply getting someone to come on camera to talk, in order to keep an audience engaged and interested. This includes the manor on which the interview is filmed and the questions raised within the interview. It’s important to remember to interview FOR the AUDIENCE rather than having a discussion in which you may understand the content but others may not, articulate this to the person you’re interviewing to keep answers short and easy to follow. Consider both open and closed ended questions. However avoid leading questions which pre-suppose facts simply by asking and are biased to a particular view. In terms of where things to think about include the quality of shot and sound as well as permissions to use certain spaces (especially public with people about the place) and definitely make sure threre aren’t attractive people or cute dogs in the background because people will get inevitably get distracted. The way the subject of the interview is presented should be considered also in relation to the context and content. There are sooooo many aspects that i would have never considered at play here. If i had my way with an interview I’d do it while both of us were drinking pints of beer in front of a big green screen with all sorts of random cookery flashing up, oh we’d be wearing green shirts too so we’d look like turnt floating heads. But that’s probably just me. 🙂

This cartoon created by the actual Lucas bros (twin comedians from Greenpoint NY) is brilliant. I’d compare it to cartoons like Rick & Morty or American Dad in that it’s definitely aimed at an older audience and basically contains non stop stoner humor and references with the brothers running around baked in almost every episode. I stumbled ap0n this show in year 11 and quickly more and more of the blokes from my school started watching it, there’s just something so hilarious and addictive about this show that wins you over so quickly, my cousin for example binge watched the entire two seasons literally in one sitting one night when we were on holiday together. There are actually a lot of clever pop culture references worked into the episodes too especially from older american family comedies and movies such as Independence Day and The Matrix. For a small niche cartoon there are a some impressive star appearances including Matt Berry and rappers such as Danny Brown and Action Bronson all voicing characters. I think while it’s well thought out and clever while still remaining extremely simple and easy to watch, at the end of the day the real reason this cartoon has won myself and many of my friends over is that it’s simply just funny as hell.

http://www.laweekly.com/music/adam22s-no-jumper-podcast-has-become-essential-listening-for-rap-fans-8050618

Adam22 or Adam Grandmaison (being his real name) started a blog called THECOMEUP in March of 2006 writing about the fast growing street BMX scene within the US, this blog started out small as always and everyone who visited basically knew who Adam was and his story as a “regular ass kid living in New York”. Nowadays Adam owns and runs a BMX & streetware shop called OSS recently moved to Melrose Ave Hollywood, a BMX team boasting some of the most famous riders in the world such as Stevie Churchill and Brandon Begin, his own clothing brand, and most recently one of the fastest growing podcasts in the world “NO JUMPER” interviewing some of the best up and coming rappers in the US as well as other culture icons, even including names like LIL Yachty, XXXTENTACION (who Adam now manages), DASH, Xavier Wulf and even GARY ROGERS from Skateline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZeojT3vzLk. As well as working with some of the biggest bike and car vloggers on YouTube.

So this kid from the east coast who a few years ago was posting videos from skateparks on his beat up bike, selling stickers from the back of his van and jittered up on adderall rose to be one of the most powerful driving forces in both the underground rap scene as well as bmx. How? pure hard work and non stop grinding from day one of TCU which is still going strong. I could go on forever about how this man is a genius but I won’t. I do believe that Adam22 can be presented as a strong example of someone applying the crasftsman mindset although he obviously had a pre-existing passion for what he was doing I think few would have had the sheer drive and persistence to push through and turn what may have been a side venture into what is virtually an empire now in the same way that Steve Jobs did as mentioned in the video shown in the last lecture.

 

When I was out with a couple of friends in Osaka earlier in the year we went out for a big night and ended up going HAM in a karaoke place we found. I remember this song coming on and all of us absolutely singing at the tops of our voices in the most dramatic way possible, this probably had a lot to do with what was mixed into our cokes but also there’s just something about this song that just kinda hits you right in the heart hole. Even though it’s way before my time I really connect with this song like it’s an outlet for all your emotions and hidden pain (without sounding dramatic, yes we all have pain, we all have stuff that sits at the back of our minds and mocks us or hangs about in our conscience like a dark cloud) Maybe the whole appeal of this song is that it serves to expose us all as living feeling humans, shows us that we’re not alone in any sort of struggle and helps us empathize with one another in the same way that you do for the characters mentioned in the song itself. This song after all is famous for being one of those classics that nearly everyone loves and can’t resist singing along to. There’s even a College humor sketch where the police use this song to tell if people are drink driving or not depending on whether they can resist bursting out into song or not.

I wanted to write about something way different to the sort of media i normally consume and I figured that this song was the perfect thing. I definitely know next time I hear it on a night out… I’m singing loudly