Month: June 2015

Over the last 13 weeks, I had a number of inspiring moments over the media 1 course. Perhaps the first interesting moment for me was in week 3, where a lecturer named Kyla Brettle, who gave me some interesting advice regarding how to be a filmmaker, namely, forcing myself into uncomfortable and strange situations in order to get the best stories and shots one can. I also learnt important information regarding release forms, RMIT helping out with various legal troubles, and it being a good idea to build good relationships with landowners (as it would allow us to avoid any filming issues down the road).

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/oliver-clark/2015/03/17/weekly-reflection-3/

I think perhaps one my biggest “light-bulb” moments of creativity came to me with my Project Brief 2 – this one-minute, brief video showcased my basic personality traits, hobbies, and basic editing skills. Despite low-quality camera and editing equipment, I was able to produce a fairly high-quality short video. I used quick-witted humour mixed with epic, trailer-sounding voice-overs (I was very pleased to hear my classmates praising my voice and wanting me in voiceover roles when they make films in the future). The general surrealism and skill presented in this video was well received amongst the class and teachers, prompting me to decide to do a similar style for future projects.

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/oliver-clark/2015/03/25/project-brief-assignment/

When week 6 started, I received a 70% grade for my project brief 2, which I found pleasing and also an encouragement to continue with my style of quick humour mixed with false grandeur. I thought the potential use of found footage in my project brief 3 would be the perfect way to just that, and to a greater degree as well. However, I later found those thoughts to be poorly placed.

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/oliver-clark/2015/04/14/weekly-reflection-6/

When I submitted my project brief 3, I thought it was a good piece of film. However, the feedback was less so. I only got 63% on it, so I was curious as to what I could have done wrong. I learnt face-to face from Mr. Rowlands that I needed less found footage, and more of the person I was doing a video on. On top of that, I was informed that my voice-editing skills were less than perfect, with echoes from the voice-overs clearly present.

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/oliver-clark/2015/04/18/project-brief-3/

By week 9, it was clear I had entered a rhythm of simply writing any and all information I heard in the lectorials and workshops as my weekly blog reflection. I found this a useful way to retain that information as well as to present what I was learning throughout the week in a clear, chronological process. Classmates even say they follow my blog just because it is such a excellent record of the lectorials.

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/oliver-clark/2015/05/05/weekly-reflection-9/

I learnt a lot about editing, film legalities, and the need for criticism if I want to progress and succeed in the media industry. I learnt best from writing knowledge and getting information explained simply. I will have to look at other styles and skills if I want to grow within the media course.

Declaration and statement of authorship

1. I have not impersonated, or allowed myself to be impersonated by any person for the purposes of this assessment.
2. This assessment is my/our original work and no part of it has been copied from any other source except where due acknowledgement is made.
3. No part of this assessment has been written for me/us by any other person except where such collaboration has been authorised by the lecturer/teacher concerned.
4. I have not previously submitted this work for this or any other course/unit.
5. I give permission for my assessment response to be reproduced, communicated compared and archived for the purposes of detecting plagiarism.
6. I give permission for a copy of my assessment to be retained by the university for review and comparison, including review by external examiners.

I understand that:

• Plagiarism is the presentation of the work, idea or creation of another person as though it is your own. It is a form of cheating and is a very serious academic offence that may lead to exclusion from the University. Plagiarised material can be drawn from, and presented in, written, graphic and visual form, including electronic data and oral presentations. Plagiarism occurs when the origin of the material used is not appropriately cited.
• Plagiarism includes the act of assisting or allowing another person to plagiarise or to copy my work.

I agree and acknowledge that:

1.  I have read and understood the Declaration and Statement of Authorship above.
2.  I accept that use of my RMIT account to electronically submit this assessment constitutes my agreement to the Declaration and Statement of Authorship
3.  If I do not agree to the Declaration and Statement of Authorship in this context, the assessment outcome is not valid for assessment purposes and cannot be included in my aggregate score for this course.

 

Oliver Clark

Link to website: http://cargocollective.com/project4cropped

One of the more successful parts of this project would have to be the website. It isn’t just a video on the blog, its also a part of a greater website with a giant, blank, white page as its background. The “about” page that I typed was good enough to explain our project. What I did was focus on explaining the video and websites inspiration from social media, the Internet, and Instagram. It also goes on to talk about people’s potential perceptions of the video (i.e. porn vs. art). Hopefully the “about” section will give the video some much-needed context as there is no voice-over or explanatory text in the video.

Another strong part of this project I believe is the video itself. It seems vague and confusing at first, but it really is a very well produced and edited piece of footage. Each picture was specially cropped into squares (like with Instagram) and the shots of the model were perfectly captured. However, the choice of music was a bit strange. I understand that the techno beat of it was meant to capture the idea of technology and the rise of Internet media, but I still felt that the music didn’t exactly fit with the pictures within the video. Perhaps something more orchestral or classical would have been more appropriate, but since the artist of the song we did use was my teammates friend, it meant we didn’t need to worry about copyright infringement and so we used it.

However, there were some major issues while collaborating on this project. For instance, my group was completely blank on ideas of what to do when looking at “audiences”. We eventually settled on the Internet, but it was still a long while until we actually though of it. On top of that, because of our differing university schedules and vast distance between our homes, it became difficult to find times to meet up to work on the project. Despite this, we were able to find some time to meet up and I made the effort to go to her house to work on the video and the website. In addition to this problem, though, we had continuous trouble with the collaborative contract because so many of the steps were either contradictory, exactly the same, or just incredibly vague and confusing. We still aren’t entirely sure whether or not we actually completed the contract correctly, or at all.

Perhaps the major issue I had in this project was a growing feeling of inadequacy. The idea of focusing on the Internet, making a website, and using photos of close-ups of human skin were all Rose’s ideas. It wasn’t pressure or anything like that, but rather I just had no ideas at all and she had these great ones. The only idea I had was putting photos within a video to put on the website (as opposed to just a gallery of photos). I’m usually a very creative and imaginative person, but being the one who has almost no ideas of how to approach a project is a bit depressing. I can only hope that this creative slump will pass soon.

One thing I learned while working on this project was that the bigger the project, the more people that are needed. While in previous projects in the Media 1 course I did everything myself, this much larger and significantly more complicated project required two of us to work on it. We might have found it easier with another person in our group, but we ran out of people in the class so we adapted. I future media projects (specifically in my broader development as a media practitioner), I will have to accurately measure how big a project might become and get the exact right amount of people needed for it.

Another thing I learned during the making process of this project was that group members sometimes have to really step out of their comfort zones. Working extra hard is one thing, but the traveling to an area I had not heard of, let alone know how to navigate, was quite uncomfortable to me at first but I got over it eventually. The nude photography was also a little awkward at first, but I also got over that as well. I expanded my comfort zone, which is needed in some group collaborations.

All in all, I think that this was an interesting project to work on. Despite the difficulties involved, the fact that those difficulties were overcome and the important lessons learned are what made the project itself more challenging and, as a result, more interesting. While I do think changes to the project should be made (the removal of the collaborative contract and the annotated bibliography), it was still a good project to be involved with.

Declaration and statement of authorship

1. I have not impersonated, or allowed myself to be impersonated by any person for the purposes of this assessment.
2. This assessment is my/our original work and no part of it has been copied from any other source except where due acknowledgement is made.
3. No part of this assessment has been written for me/us by any other person except where such collaboration has been authorised by the lecturer/teacher concerned.
4. I have not previously submitted this work for this or any other course/unit.
5. I give permission for my assessment response to be reproduced, communicated compared and archived for the purposes of detecting plagiarism.
6. I give permission for a copy of my assessment to be retained by the university for review and comparison, including review by external examiners.

I understand that:

• Plagiarism is the presentation of the work, idea or creation of another person as though it is your own. It is a form of cheating and is a very serious academic offence that may lead to exclusion from the University. Plagiarised material can be drawn from, and presented in, written, graphic and visual form, including electronic data and oral presentations. Plagiarism occurs when the origin of the material used is not appropriately cited.
• Plagiarism includes the act of assisting or allowing another person to plagiarise or to copy my work.

I agree and acknowledge that:

1.  I have read and understood the Declaration and Statement of Authorship above.
2.  I accept that use of my RMIT account to electronically submit this assessment constitutes my agreement to the Declaration and Statement of Authorship
3.  If I do not agree to the Declaration and Statement of Authorship in this context, the assessment outcome is not valid for assessment purposes and cannot be included in my aggregate score for this course.

 

Oliver Clark