write

write

https://www.instagram.com/p/CA9FzeuD9oR/

How did you author the photo you recorded for upload to Instagram

For my post this week I decided to capture a photo of one of my cats favourite toys. I picked this particular toy as I knew I would be able to artistically capture it in a photograph. I knew I wanted to be able to utilise composition and shadows in my photo and make it a bit more artistic then my previous week. I captured this photo utilising my IPhone 11 and used the in app camera on the platform Instagram. I decided that although last week I was unhappy with the photo as a result of the constraints Instagram imposes on users, because I wanted to really understand how the platform works to aid users generate media for accounts. I took this photo and later edited it with the filter “moon” in order to upkeep my account simplicity and aesthetic. What I’m liking about my page is that I am able to express my own identify through my posts being about what I love, my cat, as well as take into account Manovich’s ideas about “minimalism”. (Manovich, 2016).

How did you publish the photo you recorded for upload to Instagram

I published this photo onto the same Instagram account “s3601713”, this is my second photo on the account but forth post overall. The caption for this post is “toy”, as I wanted it to be similar to the my previous posts. I then added the Hashtags,  #kitten #playtime #blackandwhite, in order to circulate the posts among other users who might search or be using the same popular hashtags. I needed to make sure that these hashtags were prevalent and popular on Instagram before using them, for example “blackandwhite’, has a large 152 million posts.

How did you distribute the photo you recorded for upload to Instagram

At the moment the only platform I am using to distribute my posts is Instagram. I feel like linking this Instagram account to my other account which has a larger following might be a great way of circulating my content more and growing its following. Other than that, I believe maybe implementing a geotag on my posts might also bring more engagement, this is something i plan to do next week.

References

Manovich, L 2016, Instagram and the Contemporary Image, University of San Diego, USA, pp. 24-113.

Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?

Marie Fe and Jake Snow, known on Instagram as mariefeandjakesnow, are instagram practitioners who blog about their travels, healthy lifestyle and photography preset packages. They constantly post photo and IGTV (Instagram video) content on their social media platforms and website. With a large 736,000 online followers, the couple began their career after they met on a trip in Thailand.  Soon they merged their private accounts a created an online presence together. Thought this they have started their own brand and have since launched their own website. They as a couple travel the world blogging, videoing and taking photos of their experiences to share with their following. Through this they promote the locations and the accomodation they stay in.

Image source 

What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?) 

As Instagram has no title element to its platform, there is only a caption to this video.

Caption:

We promise to never take traveling for granted again 🙏🏻 Will you join us?? We like to think that we have always been grateful for the experiences we’ve been lucky enough to have all around the world 🌎 But there is a part of us that knows we took it for granted! We are the most traveled generation to have ever lived! Our parents and grandparents never had the opportunities to see the world like we do. We’ve been so lucky and now that we’ve been forced to imagine a world where we can’t travel it has really driven home how lucky we have been and how lucky we are ✨We want to make an agreement with all of you that we will act differently when things get back to normal, which we know they will!

FROM NOW ON

– We will never take traveling for granted

– We will travel mindfully and consciously

– We will travel for good reason

– We will travel with open hearts

– We will travel less but travel deeper

Will you guys make this agreement with us? Say ‘Yes’ in the comments if you will join us in this commitment ❤️ Every yes is changing the world #thetravelpledge

.

🎥 – @elliotgrafton

#travel #conscioustravel #stayhome #travelgram #sustainabletravel #traveltheworld

Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/B_PWGRBjVlm/

With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?

This video was published onto Instagram on the 21st of April, 2020.  It was uploaded as the couple are based in Bali during the Coronavirus Pandemic. However, due to the different clips and all of the editing that would have had to go into the production if this video, it can be assumed that it was not all created on this date. The clips from within the video feature snippets from past travels and can be assumed that they have been taken since the beginning of their online presence in 2015.

How was the photo or video authored?

As there are many different clips in the video we can’t assume they were all taken on the same digital camera. However, we can assume that they used a tripod for some of their shots as they have always said it is crucial to photography. In terms of editing their content they tend to use Lightroom software to colour grade their images and videos by using their own made presets.

How was the photo or video published?

This video was published onto Instagram as a way of letting their followers how much h they appreciate travelling and their jobs during the Coronavirus Pandemic. Marie and Jake have often said that they use their own presets to edit their content so the video would have been put onto Lightroom for editing before publishing. Once exported from Lightroom, the video was most likely airdropped to their phones in order to be uploaded onto Instagram. Thus adheres to Instagrams features as you can’t upload content from a computer. As Instagram users you must use your phone to publish photos and videos onto the platform.

How was the photo or video distributed?

This video post is meant to bring people together, the point of it was to “pledge” their appreciation to their job, their social media and their ability to move freely in the world. The post has multiple tag lines in order to gain traction from users.

Eg. #travel #conscioustravel #stayhome #travelgram #sustainabletravel #traveltheworld

Further in the Tagged section they tag their photographer and friend Elliot, in terms of distribution this is tenuous as it will come up on the accounts that they tag.

Bibliopgrpraghy

https://www.mariefeandjakesnow.com/blog/2018/12/11/5-steps-to-taking-amazing-couple-photos

https://www.mariefeandjakesnow.com/

Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?

Steph Claire Smith is an entrepreneur, model and photojournalist. She has a massive following on both her business accounts “Keep it Cleaner“, “Midnightco” and “Soda Shades“. However her largest following is via her personal account which has a whopping 1.6 million followers. Steph has been posting content such as photos and videos since she was in her early 20s and has since sky rocketed to fame through her social media presence. Since then, Steph has been active on her instagram channel and has gained even more success. From this she has begun her own app and youtube channel for business ‘keep it clearer’. Throughout Steph’s online career she has made it public that she struggled with negative body image and poor self esteem as a result of her modelling, now Steph uses this story to inspire and influence young women and men to look after themselves and create a healthy mindset of themselves. As this is a key reason for what she does a lot of her online content is in relation to positive body image. 

Image source 

What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?) 

There is no specific title for this photograph as Instagram has a no tittle feature to its platform. However, the caption reads: NEW @adidasau campaign in stores now 😝 The new adidas training collection is all about playing your way.💪🏼 Featuring styles made to move with you and available in inclusive sizing, everyone can feel confident whilst working to their highest potential. LOVED shooting this campaign with these incredible women 🙌🏼 Reimagine sport with adidas. Shot by @renpidgeon #adidaswomen #reimaginesport

Link

With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?

This photo was published onto Instagram on the 12th of January 2020. This particular photos was not taken on this date however, it was a shot apart of a larger shoot with activewear company Adidas, taken in America in November 2019 by photographer Ren Pigeon.

How was the photo or video authored?

Steph mostly uses her iPhone to capture her Instagram satires and posts, however as this photo was captured by photographer Ren Pigeon was can assume that this is not what happened. Ren is a professional photojournalist and uses Digital cameras, tripods and lights to produce his works. The photo as it is apart of a campaign shoot for well known company Adidas would have gone through some hefty editing and colour grading during post production.

How was the photo or video published?

This photo was published onto Instagram most likely directly from Steph’s iPhone. Besides potential editing there would have been no great difficulty in publishing this photograph which is a stark contrast to the development process of analogue photography. However, there  would have been a calculated thought process in which this photograph was published in terms of its aesthetic, as Steph’s posts are mostly about activewear and bikinis her photograph would have has to be placed in the right spot for her Instagram grid in order to fit her colour palette and overall look of her instagram platform.

How was the photo or video distributed?

The distribution of this photo can easily be detected through the use of Steph’s tags. She has tagged the company Adidas as well as the photographer. Therefore, if the Adidas were to re-upload her photograph or post, there would be a continued cycle of links and networks of the image. For example, in the ‘tagged’ feature on Steph’s instagram account, you can find the same photograph posted by Adidas. 

Final Reflection Natalie Aarons s3601713

1. In what ways do you hope your screenings/exhibited/screened work (whether individual or group produced) engaged its audience and communicated a key concern of the studio?  

I believe that our final piece that was screened at the final exhibition for class tied well into the key ideas of what the studio Sonic Materialities was about. The final piece which incorporated both sound and visual materials explored the notion of communication with sound, tone and gestures in terms of communication on a social level.  For example the piece screened engaged the audience with the idea of tone (which is sound) being crucial to how we communicate with people universally and thus has everything to do with the study of sound and the studio Sonic Materialities, the concept or concern of the studio was to explore sound through history and what sound is. Through our own research which we learnt through classes in the studio and out of class research we were as a group able to tie in the key concepts of the studio and create something both exploring sound but also going further than that and exploring what sound means universally within a social structure like language and communication.

1. Imagine you are going to keep working on that media piece (e.g. to screen it somewhere else like a festival, or develop it in to a different kind of work, and so on) – what would be the core things you would want to improve and extend and why? 

In terms of improvement for the final piece and making it something that could go on to more showcases, I would like to potentially spend more time in the production side of things.For example: getting the lighting perfect in every shot. I think some of our shots are a bit too exposed and sometimes the camera was not white balanced. The continuity with white balance was lacing throughout the piece.  Further making more informed choices for the composition of the camera angles. In regards to the types of camera angles we were using in filming I think composition sometimes wasn’t at the forefront of how we were filming I would like to focus on that more.

I think we could have also had more content as the video was short of ten minutes and that was our goal time. Lastly to make sure the sound was at the best possible quality and maybe even adding in some more foley sound.

1. Reflect on an aspect of two other students/group’s media work at the event in terms of specific insights they produced about a key idea addressed by the studio? 

The video about the bacon I really enjoyed, I thought the concept was both funny, light hearted and very thought provoking. It actually made me think about what sounds are actually coming from the source you are visually seeing and what are made up to make you think it is what you are visually seeing. Further, the presentation which was in the form of a podcast discussing feminism and the historiography of electronic music I also found very informative and well scripted. Coming from doing my concept report on the same subject I found that the podcast piece did intact consolidate my knowledge and open my eyes up to personal experience of those in my class who had put the podcast together.

1. How did being part of an audience at an event like this impact your experience of your own and other’s work? 

I think experiencing work in this environment does two things. One, I think sitting down in a professional environment and viewing your hard work gives you a sense of validation. It also gives a sense of praise for the tough work you have done all semester, it is recognition. It also sets you up for the potential to receive negative feedback. Negative feedback is really a positive and learning it through university is important. I mean to say that exhibitions liked this create a safe environment to receive feedback from peers. Secondly, it is very differ sitting down watching a movie alone in you room as pose ti sitting in an auditorium, it could be the same film but watching it in an environment with other people enhances the experiences and opens you up to watching the film through different eyes based on how those around you are reacting the film to: in this case I think the exhibition creates a space where you aren’t alone watching other peoples work the exhibition gives you that experience to bounce off other peoples thoughts and reactions throughout, you never know you might even think something you never thought would pop into your head if it wasn’t for the person next to you watching with you.

The Audience made me feel proud of my work because I saw a great reaction out of them. I was also able to compare my work to others in different ways. For example I gaged that our piece had a bit more humour than the others, however It lacked detail in terms of editing, and theoretical in terms of the information we presented in our video wasn’t as informative as the podcast for example. It made me aware of the things I liked about our work and the things I think we could have improved on.

This week the group presented a progress report to the class, I wasn’t able to be there however I know that the group had the opportunity to show Georgia and the rest of the class what our concept was and how we as a group were exploring it. Further it gave the group the opportunity to get feedback from our class mates. From this we were able to consolidate ourselves as a group both on our concept, how we were going to move forward with our project in terms of production and our communication as a group.

Through the presentation the group ran through the concept how it would look and sound in the final edit.This also gave us the opportunity to hear some feedback from Georgia and our fellow classmates, luckily the feedback was positive which gave us as a group the confidence to produce the rest of out project. With the knowledge that our concept was not only solid but explored well we were glad to move forward knowing we were right on track. Further, a concept that was brought up was the stereotyped languages, without wanting to come across racist and offend anyone we as a group were nervous we might do this as stereotyping and generalising people and their languages can be touchy for some people. However the class and the teachers took it on well and it left us room to look into how everyone interprets thins differently bass on their own ideas.

As the group presented without me that day I asked them what research I should do to catch myself up. Allegra told me to look into a guy called John Cage because he was mentioned throughout the class and that she thought researching him would benefit us with out own presentation. Upon my own research I discovered that Cage is an American Composer who spent a large component of his life studying sound and more importantly the study of silence as a sound. A well known piece 4 33 is legitimately a video of a composer going to perform infant of an audience with a piano but not playing anything at all, after four minutes and thirty three seconds he walks off stage. Specifically the point Cage was making with this piece is that sound or music is more than a voice or an instrument being played. Even extraneous factors play into a performance, for example in 4 33 you can hear the audience in the background, Cage is making a point that instruments don’t necessarily mean everything in music. Cage came up with the theory that silence doesn’t even exist because even in silence you can hear the human body working. What Cage experimented with in music and sound strikes right at the heart of what our group is trying to achieve, taking away words (sound) within our own video means there is silence for people to interpret and hear the extraneous variables.

With most of our brainstorming on concept out of the way, this week our group explored how to convey our message as a project. We decided that making a short film that had small snippets of footage matched up with sound would be the best way to go about it. We came up with ideas like, only showing small parts of the face in shot to communicate or capture the idea of facial expression, whilst layering the footage with the sound of another person for example matching a feminine face with a masculine voice. We thought that shooting some of the footage like this would be somewhat disorientating for the viewer and thought it would be a cool component of the film to investigate communication. Further to have shots where snippets of sentences are edited out so that the viewer has to fill in the blanks, this would be interesting in itself because viewers may come up with different words that fill in the blanks based on their own social cues. During the class the group filmed a small scene as a rough idea of what our bigger production could look like, this was a work in progress presentation.

Upon doing some of my own research, I came across an article called ‘Forming social impressions from voices in native and foreign languages’. The article is written by Cristina Baus, Phil McAleer, Katherine Marcoux, Pascal Belin and Albert Coasta. The article explores “acoustical properties of the voice (e.g., pitch)” and the fact that acoustic properties can be “very powerful” when it come to “forming social impressions.” The article was very interesting it spoke about “languages” being a pivotal competent to the investigation and research in regards to understand voice and the way people communicate regardless of their language. The results of the experiment or investigation done in the article “revealed that listeners across languages form very similar personality impressions irrespective of whether the voices belong to the native or the foreign language of the listener. A social voice space was summarised by two main personality traits, one emphasising valence (e.g., trust) and the other strength (e.g., dominance).”. This to me was very interesting as we as a group were planning to conduct our own version of this exact investigation. 

Forming Social Impressions From Voices in Native and Foreign Languages, January 2019, Cristina Baus, Phil McAleer, Katherine Marcoux, Pascal Belin & Albert Costa https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-36518-6#Abs1

This week the class was placed into groups to brainstorm ideas for the last assignment, originally I was placed in a group that wasn’t communicative. After some attempts at trying to brainstorm ideas with them I jumped ship and joined another group (Allegra, Ebony and Dana) because their brainstorming ideas interested me and I had previously worked well with both Allegra and Ebony in another group assignment.

Once I joined the girls group they took me through what they had brainstormed: The idea being to focus and investigate the power of social cues in regards to tone and facial expression and manipulated sound. For example, investigating stripping away the sound from words someone is saying on film and seeing what information can still be interpreted and received without the words. To discover the difference between what noise is and information is that really just social cues and what society has told us to pick up on. Further what emotion can be picked up through sound and tone, without it can is emotion there at all? And lastly using manipulated sound as a means to test if a viewer would be able to interpret what a person is trying to convey over film. Luckily two of the group members were fluent in other languages like Greek and Arabic, so taking advantage of languages would be a great way for the group to investigate communication further. Looking at languages in particular and honing in on the notion that even if you can’t understand that particular tongue you might still be able to pick up on the meaning of the words based on facial expressions and social cues.

Allegra forwarded me onto a particular article that back up our investigation. Michael Bull and Les Back’s article ‘Getting a Sense of Listening’ brings up that “sound, combined with an awareness of sonic presence, is posted as a powerful force in shaping how people interpret their experiences”. This idea is at the very core of what we are exploring, that sound in combination with social cue has a powerful force to create meaning for people to communicate without necessarily having the ability to understand word for word what the other is saying. Our group is really trying to investigate what sounds means for communication. Communication has so many facets to it, the words, facial expression, tone and more, my group want to explore and boundaries of this concept and use it to see how manipulated sound scan effect another persons understanding.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GPGEM6NafduMH2mLoSsZDC4rc9UEnm2I?ths=true

Concept Report Written

Tara Rodgers: Toward a Feminist Historiography of Electronic Music Chapter 39

Natalie Aarons s3601713

A) Summary of the reading

The chapter in summary explores the concept of sexism in the electronic music industry. Tara Rodgers the author of the chapter highlights the issues of sexism through delving first into the history of electronic music and then considers where the industry lies presently in regards to feminism and how women are responded to within the electronic music industry.

In the first section of the chapter Rodgers addresses the history of electronic music first by conceptualising the notion and recognising that music is a representation of the time and era it is made. Further, that there is commonly a political influence that determines or undermines how or what type of music is produced. In her text Rodger’s refers to The Cold War remarking that “During the Cold War, electronic sounds became firmly lodged in the public imagination, especially in association with space age and atomic research”, this was because in the 20th Century a competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for spaceflight capability became a spotlight for most of the worlds politics.  Rodger’s further went on to explain that “space age pop music featured racially exorcized portrayals of women on album covers and used electronic sounds to signify the allure and anxieties of space exploration”. Highlighting that this industry used gender to stereotype and categorise, in particular this was aimed at women.

Moreover, Rodgers highlights the hyper sexualisation of women artist in the music industry too. Clara Rockmore’s Recital at the Town Hall in New York in the year 1934, is a prime example of this. The Washington Post wrote a commentary on her performance writing that “her right hands reach forward towards, but stops short of the vertical rod. In doing so, she has penetrated the area of sound”, this implies that Rockmore “encroached on a phallic domain”. The way she was spoken about was sexualised and made her seem like she wasn’t playing an instrument but that she was performing something innately sexual. Clara Rockmore’s recital and commentary by the Post is the very essence of sexism in the industry because of the way women were spoken about within the industry.

The text also addressed gender and technology in discourses of sound reproduction. This portion of the chapter discusses sound reproduction and the concept of male creation. Looking more closely at the concept of male creation, and what that means for the music industry. “male claims to creation”, are stories of male birth that cover up a dependance on women. Rodger’s uses the example of Fender Electric Guitars “in the Mid twentieth century, the distinctive, prized tone of fender electric guitar relied on the labouring hands of hispanic women”, despite the central role of these workers they were never praised for their work it was Leo Fender himself that was.

B) Where does the text situate itself in the study of sound and what is its significance?

If sound has a direct correlation to time, place and politics then this text situates itself within the political side of the sound study. Music is influenced by the society it is made in, it makes sense because people within society with all of their societal codes of behaviour are the ones producing the music. This text deals with the issues of gendered inequalities in the music industry, in particular this article explores sexism in the electronic music sector and aims to make a point for feminism within this male dominated platform of music. Sexism in the electronic music industry or the entire music industry for that matter is of great significance as it reflects on the way society is constructed today in every facet of life. Music is a way of connecting people together and a way to embrace the world or connect to the worlds larger issues. Sexism in the music industry still exists today as well as it does in many other areas of life. That is why sexism in the music industry is a significant part of the sound study because it allows an understanding of the way society values women and men and the way that they are regarded. Without addressing sexism in the study of sound, a person wouldn’t really understand how through history the music industry has been formed. The article elaborates largely on the history of sexism within this industry and even makes a point for it still being an influence in the modern industry too. At the crux of it, music is a sort of microcosm of human society, It reflects the goings on of the world through sound. As if you weren’t able to physically see the world and you could only hear it through music you could understand a lot about the way our world functions.

C) How did this reading add/change your understanding on the given concept?

This reading added to my knowledge of the music industry’s history in regards to feminism and how feminism has evolved throughout it. Most importantly the strides that still need to be taken to make the industry a more diverse space for gender equality. To my understanding I previously thought that the rise of feminism within social culture these last decades, meant that the music industry was a place of creation and expression that would have been at the forefront of a diverse culture shift towards feminism. Finding out that only one in ten Dj’s today are female has changed my previous thoughts on the concept and has changed my understanding completely. In the text Tara Rodgers highlights “Dj Culture’s as distinctly masculine” and continues to point out that the industry of electronic music has not vastly shifted, women have “not made significant contributions to these fields, to the extent that men have”. This tells me that this industry is still largely male dominate, when I previously considered it to be a place where women were creating the same amount of music.

D) What is something you found important or intriguing about the reading and its relation to media making?

The reading makes a point for politics, time and era to being a major influence on the creative side of what is produced in the music industry. This was intriguing to me, although I already assumed that world issues would have an impact on what people put out into the world creatively, I didn’t quite grasp the enormity of its influence. For example Childish Gambino’s 2018 hit ‘This is America’, is a song and music video laden with metaphors about race and gun violence in America. Gun violence in America has been a large conversation and issue for the United States for years, with hundreds of mass shootings a year it’s no wonder this topic made its way into the music industry. The central massage of this song and music video is about guns and violence in America, it points out the fact that comity deals with theses issues and consumes them as a part of entertainment on one side and on the other that it as apart of a larger conversation bot in America and around the world. The music video is full of many juxtapositions that exemplify this notion. This is a prime example of the way social issues, world issues and politics of our time and era have made influence in the media making of out time. The reading put forth the notion that that was a large part of the creative influence within the industry.

E) How could this inform your practice when creating audio/visual works?

Understating sexism in the electronic music industry creates a space where creatively producing work is more informed. Exploring the history of this industry and knowing how it is run today allows creative practice to be a reflection of my own views regarding sexism in the music industry. Being informed about sexism In history allows for change. Being able to creatively produce knowing that there has been and continues to be a level of sexism within the industry allows me to explore or harness my own views and make a point for feminism through my own works.