Month: March 2015

For the workshop, we watched all of the 1 minute videos that every member in the room produced. Most of the videos seemed to be depressing and often showed shots of trains and train tracks (metaphors for “going places”). Since mine made my mundane life into an epic (with compliments given to my amazing voice-over style of speaking), people laughed and were a little thankful that they got something funny for a change.

Afterwards, we were split into groups of three. My group consisted of Samantha and Alaine, and we were tasked with practicing with a few camera angles and shots of people shaking hands. Samantha suggested to us to turn these into a story once we edited everything together. I edited everything, and Alaine was left to process the video as a “Vimeo” file and send the link to Mr. Rowlands.

The Lectorial I had this week was the last one I would have until the 14th of April due to my schedule and Easter break. We got the handout for project brief 3; a 2-minute video that combines both original and found footage about someone I know, whether it be a family member, a friend, or a colleague, provided that they have consented to it evidenced through the completed release form that is scanned and uploaded onto the blog. This is due the 20th of April, along with a 350 word reflection, a picture of me with a borrowed piece of RMIT equipment, and an Assessment declaration.

We were told that the definition of “found footage” is not the wikipedia one (i.e. Blair witch project, Cloverfield, etc.) but instead its “per-existing film footage appropriated by a filmmaker and used in a way that was not originally intended”. We were given links on places where we can acquire found footage legally (however, the footage all seemed to be pre-1970s).

We then watched a number of videos from a website called “1-minute wonders” to emphasize the difficulty of making a portrait about someone else, as well as to show combinations of found and original footage.

Brian Morris then gave a talk to encourage us to continue recording in the blog and to read the readings given to us, as well as to analyze the readings because “it isn’t a novel or a feature article so don’t read it the same way….look for argument and structure”. He said that we must look for the key argument and purpose of any piece of writing, even for ones that are 5,000 words long.

 

Project Brief Written Analysis

Oliver Clark s3471969

I have a complicated life and its very full and huge. Thus, it is difficult to put that much history and hobbies and personality into a one-minute film, which forced me to condense a few things about me in a quick, humorous manner. I like humour and making people laugh, and I believe that I achieved this goal.

The beginning section, showing the star wars-themed text giving a brief introduction was written to sound like part of an epic fable, but sadly it was too fast to read (given my time constraints) so I did a voice-over it and that also sounded too fast. All the voice-overs, for that matter, sounded too fast.

In terms of hobbies, I decided to mostly focus on my enjoyment of LARP (Live Action Role Play) and cooking. For LARP I showed with the clip of me dissolving into an old picture of me in the center of a group photo, all of us dressed as Romans. In the voiceover, I made it seem like I was a war veteran, drinking my troubles away. This satire of PTSD films made for some comedic effect in terms of surrealism.

For cooking, I transitioned between a picture of some macaroni and cheese I made to me “thinking of new recipes” on the toilet while reading a book and smoking a pipe. Again, this surrealism created some comedy. This wasn’t helped by the fact that the footage itself was of poor quality and this was especially noticeable (if at least hilarious) during the zoom-ins and zoom-outs of my face.

I really wish that we were allowed to provide more time so I could add more text, more voice-overs, more footage, more images, and thus, more about me. The LARP, cooking, and theatrics were there, but not anything about my extensive cultural heritage, my international upbringing, or my love for film and TV. However, with what time I had, I think I included enough to express a bit about who I am.

In the workshop we just continued working on our project briefs. Mr. Rowlands gave me some good advice as to how to present my images amongst my clips to make it seem more informative about who “I” am. All I need to do right now is to flesh out my 350 word reflection since the video itself I completed in the workshop.

In the lectorial, we got some more guest speakers. The first speaker (Adrian Miles) told us the importance of researching. He also claimed that we have a separation of mind and body, we have ideas and make things as a species (“I think therefore I am”). We write, think, and, of course, film. These ideas can become physical and concrete in the universe. We learn how to write an essay by writing a film, riding a bike by riding a bike, and making film by making film. If we make without ideas, we may find ourselves obsolete when technology changes (e.g. with lighting and sound). We are being taught to think of the ideas beyond what we know, beyond becoming the “inbetweener”. The technical expertise needed 20 years ago to operate a $30,000 camera is now a click away on a $200 smartphone.

To follow Mr. Mile’s lecture, we did an exercise where we are encouraged to think about writing as consisting of kernels and chunks. These chunks may be an idea, an event, or an activity. We worked in pairs  create 5 blank cards, then write a narrative on each (the 1st is the opening, and the last is the ending). Cards 2, 3 , and 4 are arranged in any order but the narrative must still make sense and is to be about “our” day, and thankfully, it can be fictional. We did many alterations during this exercise to add more sections, different endings, and others. The little time we were given during each phase wasn’t particularly helpful.

The second lecturer, Liam Ward, talked to us about editing. He said it wasn’t the simple idea of “fixing” problems with the shoot, but rather breaking things apart, fragmenting footage and clips. A clip from “2001: A Space Odyssey” showed the perfect example of how an editor is supposed to “break” footage; the jump cut. From the bone flying in the air straight to the spaceship in the future. We all create movement out of nothing, whether its a blockbuster film or a doodle on a page corner and flipping the pages of a notebook. A jump between photos of Christopher Pine and Joeffrey Baratheon demonstrated how these aspects from different points of time and space can seem like they are part of the same world, just by having the pictures jump between each other.

While I admired the tough-love, straight-to-the-point attitude that will prepare us for the cruel job market when we leave (from Adrian Miles), Mr. Ward did seem to have a very charismatic approach about him. I think a balance of speakers like Miles and Ward is what is needed for students, and especially for media students.

The Media 1 workshop helped us to present our project briefs to each other in small groups, then we choose the best to present to the class briefly (as explained in my previous post). We then received a task to combine what we have and what else we can produce to create a proper 1 minute video by the 30th of march, which I look forward to completing.

The lectorial was the more interesting session. We first got a presentation from Anne Lennox ( Senior Coordinator Copyright Management + Digital (University Library)) about licensing agreements, most of which I already assumed (e.g. don’t steal anything or you might be sued). We then got a visit by an experienced documentary filmmaker, Kyla Brettle (a lecturer for Media), who has been in many inhospitable areas to get her stories (such as war zones and the wastes of battery-farms). She advised us to try and find anything difficult and uncomfortable to get through in order to get a story and notice everything around.

She gave us the following advise:

• explore something you don’t know
• observe on location
• observe yourself
• become one with the technology
• let a story and subject evolve
• question motivations and assumptions
• remember that it is a live relationship

Paul Ritchard, a lecturer in Media, spoke to us about pre-production when making a film. One needs release forms, permissions, and insurance (to avoid certain legal action). These forms and certain software and equipment is required, as well as casting and audition/rehearsal spaces. He mentioned getting an RMIT location release form and the personnel release form in order to build a relationship with the owner of certain properties. However, these do not hold up in court as the plaintiff could argue they signed it under duress. It only specifies that a conversation took place. Mr. Ritchard informed us that RMIT would help us out if we got into legal trouble (if only to protect their public image).

The best advise we got was to ask all the cast and crew how long they need to get ready on set, then add an hour. As someone who has worked in group projects, I can attest to that.

I thought that my photo (shown here):

Really helped to emphasize my commitment to all things imaginative, interactive, and almost childlike. LARP (Live Action Role Play) is one of the highlights of my week and I love to express my admiration for it publicly.

• The video files were to show my fun and comedic side, for I often use humour in every aspect of my life.
• The audio files are simply trying to get across a general background of who I am in terms of where I come from and some stuff of what I like.
• The different pictures help to show many aspects of my life. I was able to acquire them from Facebook. One of them shows me with some mac and cheese I made from scratch (to emphasize my cooking skills). Another shows me with a group of people dressed as Romans shows my LARP hobby. A third one is just me with a piece of weird spaghetti I found which made me look interesting and curious. Finally there is a recent photo of me in Yangon drinking a milkshake to show my passion for travel and milkshakes.
• My writing barely scratches the surface my extensive international origins and the basis for my interest in travel. My family and I have migrated to so many continents and countries that its hard to keep track of where we all came from.

I am thinking that this weekly reflection could also double as class notes, where I can edit and update regularly and keep records of what we’re told in class.

In the Media 1 Lectorial, we were asked to make a list of the 5 things we think of when we hear the word “Media”

1. Film

2. Television

3. Books and papers

4. Music

5. Communication (including propaganda and advertisement)

There were many others, but it seemed like a better idea to only mention mine as this is my reflection.

“Media are not so much “things” as places which most of us inhabit, which weave in and out of our lives. Their constant messages and pleasures seem to flow around and through us, and they immerse most of our waking lives.” – Branston and Stafford, The Media Student’s book.

This quote was explained as a good way to explain the Media course, as something more abstract than anything completely physical (in terms of its impact). We consistently use some form of media in our everyday lives, whether it be an ad on TV, a Facebook post, or filling out a tax form. Media is everywhere.

For the second half of the lectorial, we started to experience the media world around us, to consciously “notice” whats there and later eventually intentionally notice whats there. We sat in silence for 33 seconds to hear what “notice” the sounds near us (such as tapping, pens clicking, etc.) in reference to John Cage’s 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence symphony.

We then split into small groups, went outside of the classroom, and spent about 45 minutes noticing, listing, and recording the mediated information we came across. Such things included:

Up High: A blimp for appliances online:

On the ground: An RMIT no-smoking sign painted on the floor:

Mid-Ground: Vending machines, big and flashy:

Back-ground: A drawing of Bill Murray on a cafe wall.

Foreground: A poster for a feminism rally

In my hand: My black pen, with “M&G” written on its side.

There were possibly a hundred other things I could have recorded but there was simply too much media – it was overwhelming once I started noticing everything.

The main part here is telling my future self 10 things that I would like to be better at, improve, do, and know more about by the end of my degree:

1. To be better with sets e.g. lights and props          2. To make a TV show

3. To make a film                                                           4. To film something amazing at some point

5. To be better at editing                                              6. Improve my terminology vocabulary

7. To work with advanced cameras                            8. To have a paying job in this field

9. To understand media markets

10. To overthrow the media overlords (i.e. Rupert Murdoch). That one is a joke.

We were also informed that these weekly reflections would eventually add up to 20% of our final grade in Media 1.

An extract was handed to us; “Hyper and Deep Attention: The Generational Divide in Cognitive Modes” by N. Katherine Hayles. It was also a practice to get us to focus completely on something for 10 minutes, which was ironic as the article itself was on how younger generations do not focus nearly as well as previous generations.

Hopefully, the remainder of this course will be a mixture of some interesting focus-driven works and a more practical team-based activity area. I do think that the most challenging part of this course will be the course load itself as I imagine there will be quite a few things pilling up after a while.

 

Reflection concluded

Regards,

Oliver Clark