The second part of our lecture was about documentary form. Something we wouldn’t see when watching a documentary is the structure that the editor creates from the raw footage.
Thinking about the hours of raw footage captured in the documentary process and trying to create a point of view or tell a story shows how much work is put into these films. The scene from ‘Mistaken For Strangers’ with all the post it notes really created a strong image of how much work was put in.
Using the structure:
Act 1 – Establish setup and dominate problem.
Act 2 – Escalation of conflict
Act 3 – Resolution
Standard structure for films as well, so it’s interesting to see the structure in which all video forms of media are created. Of course there is always going to be the odd one or two that subvert this.
We had a guest lecturer, Louise, talk to us about the art of interviewing. Coming up, we are going to have to put this into practice and create an interview piece with our subject of choice.
Who? I have no idea. They have to have something to say, and a story to tell. It will be a public blog, so if something is sensitive and private it’s going to be difficult to portray that in a respectful way.
This is the main part that I’ll have difficulty with, unfortunately it’s the first step. The setting and the questions will all come quite naturally for me, as I’m good at communication, active listening and empathy.
If you have read my other blog posts, you would know how much I’ve struggled with these first projects. I’ve always known that creativity is a muscle that needs to be exercised, but I never knew how hard it would be to get that muscle strength back.
My filming for this project was all on my iPhone, and I can see that all my video shots were way too dark with a very shaky hand. This made me evaluate the shots and I had to ask myself if I needed to reshoot, or if I should just deal with it.
The answer? Video effects. Using a contrasting “grainy” effect on the first video and a red filter on the second, I was able to salvage my night shots.
it seems to me that everyone struggled with the pacing regarding the photographs added into the video. This was a hurdle for me and I combated the erratic feel from the video by enhancing it using sound. This is why I have the photos repeating and so sudden. If you can’t beat them, join them.
I did end up having to re record my sounds to fit with the flow of the piece, creating the piece to fit the sounds was too difficult and seemed too backwards.
Transitions were hard. I felt far too basic doing so many cross transitions, but I found that they worked for my content. One part I am very proud of is my cross zoom into the moving lights section of my video. It worked much better than I could have anticipated.
In regards to the context of this piece, I struggled attempting to portray myself in a abstract manner. Something Brian mentioned in this weeks lecture reassured me though. He mentioned something along the lines of “A snapshot of you, in this time” not particularly of every aspect of you, but you at this present moment, you RIGHT NOW. Through my creation, I found a theme of nature vs industry. You can see many pictures of flowers, trees but juxtaposed against images of cranes and machinery. I set out with a clear idea of using nature as a theme and the industrial side came in without planning, so I found a new idea through creation.
I am in a very transitional stage of my life at the moment, so I think that’s well represented by the three videos of people walking.I’m headed down a new path, and beginning a new life cycle and this is where the tarot cards come into play.
As for the program, I was scared out of my mind to use this with no guidance, but I discovered that it was the best way to find my way through the program. Using Premiere was so intimidating at first, and though I’m not a proficient at it yet, I have hope that I’ll be able to use it more creatively next time. I had major issues in the beginning trying to figure out how to edit specific media, using colours and video effects, transitions and volume. Basically, everything was difficult until I scrapped all my content and started again.
Going forward, I’ve realised how important it is to have a creative idea in mind before starting a project. I had no direction and no theme when I first started out which resulted in re shooting and re recording most of my media. Even so, I did find a new theme during the creation of my project that I had never thought about and continued with and I’m really happy with the end project.
As usual, because I’m a paranoid person, password for the video is media1
So I’ll start calling myself a media practitioner. This stood out to me in today’s lecture because after completing this first media project, I’m feeling like an imposter.
I’m looking forward to writing my reflection. I’ve identified so many issues and mistakes with my first project. Reflection is more than analysing mistakes but also developing and exercising your creative, critical and deep thinking skills. Relating to real world? Any media job we go into will require collaboration and you’ll be forced to critique and reflect on others work as well as your own.
The above quote originally from Steve Martin resonates with me and my life. Finding passion through hard work and creating your own talent is something I have grown up with and practice in every day life. Using the craftsman mindset, you can realise what you can put into each task or job you have and what that can reward you with.
The passion mindset is a little more self indulgent. Expecting that the world will offer you a clear passionate direction is waiting around for something that may never happen. I don’t mean to be bleak, but it took me nearly 10 years to make a decision to follow something that I’m keenly interested in and that was through years of putting my mind to what seemed like meaningless jobs, but were actually apart of my growth.
If you feel that you’re wasting your time in a job that you don’t particularly feel passionate about in time you may come to be so good at your role that your passion grows. You can develop and hone your skills and find that you really enjoy the job you currently do, and want to take that further.
So, here is my haiku. Today in the workshop we learnt more about Premier and how to use it, so I could have made this a little better with the information recieved today. I chose not to work on this anymore because I think it showcases my lack of skill with the program and I’m still kind of proud that I worked it out. This will be a good starting reference for when I can smash out complex editing later down the track.
This weeks lecture focused on editing which I found really interesting as I am focusing on screen and film studies.
The Kuleshov Effect was particularly interesting to learn about, the idea that cutting two seperate shots together to create a seperate meaning shows how editing possibilities are endless. Sometimes a whole moment or scene can be created wholly in post production to enhance the moment or feeling the movie is trying to portray.
Creating rhythm and pace in shots is also something that I have been looking closely at, both in my Media and Cinema studies class. Using multiple shots and angles to create a fast paced atmosphere, or alternatively using long shots and slow editing to create a slow, in depth moment. Both are equally as important in setting the pace for the narrative and, when done correctly, moves the audience along with the film and lets audiences know where they are up to in the film.
I’m going to take the information and apply it to my self portrait as I want to create a pace or a narrative, so fingers crossed I get it right
The Power Of Directed Assumption and Participation.
Through the panels this week, we not only complete a reading but we get a story. “Closure” in the panels of the comic inform us of the power of audience participation and assumption, not only in comics but across all mediums.
Understanding your audiences context and assuming their past experiences create a complete narrative without having to show every detail, besides if they did show every detail I would probably be bored.
I’m a big fan of minimalism in media, using negative space and assumptions always make the content more interesting. Reading about main stream comics in Japan using aspect to aspect storytelling makes sense. So many of those manga are serial and continuous so the idea of time not passing for 10-15 frames is not frustrating, but rather calming. These manga also tend to have little dialogue during these frames to establish a sense of quiet, or peace (if establishing a general scene, not if there are killer robots attacking). It opens up so many conclusions depending on the reader, if it is a simple shot of the sun and a beach with our character relaxing then each reader will conclude their own perspective of a particular beach or temperature to establish their own context.
I never thought I would say it, but I do prefer reading an essay over informative comics. I’m disappointed in myself.
I struggled with restarting my creative muscle to be honest, but after a few false starts the ideas started coming. I don’t believe I can represent myself through the content I’ve provided, but I really did try. I wanted to create a theme, or a story but I found it difficult to find areas or settings to represent that, so I did more of a daily life. (password for videos, media1)
So in no particular order, here we go.
1. Drinking!
While this may not be that abstract, it represents a part of me. I grew up within a pub environment and socialising in beer gardens is very commonplace with me.
2. Nature
I’ve been reading a lot about shadows and constructing scenes. One night I was walking around (more about that later) and I saw this tree with the hard shadow coming out of it. I felt represented because of my love for the natural environment and the hard shadow representing a different side of the tree.
3. The Kimono
I love Japanese culture. This photo came about as I was hanging around with my friends who had decided to throw their kimonos on. I wanted something to represent the interest I have in Japan and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.
4. Just A Game
Came across this in a public bathroom, and of course I didn’t pass up a chance to capture it. Just a game resonates with me, because I don’t think we should take anything too seriously and always try to enjoy what’s thrown at us. There is also a deeper meaning for me that is represented in the nordic rune Peorth – the letter ‘p’
5. Ticket
So we stole a street sign. This sign makes me happy, it reminds me of my birthday where many drinks were consumed and we adopted an abandoned street sign and proudly displayed our find. Once again I noticed the shadow of myself and decided it was a great representation of a “self portrait”
6. The Foolish Magician
I grew up in a pretty alternative town, and even though my parents are quite “straight laced” the community will always be apart of who I am. I learnt to read tarot cards quite young and I still have my deck and refer to them sporadically. On a base level, the fool represents a new beginning, while the magician is endless possibilities.
1. Bass
I won’t say that I am a bassist, but I do know how to play. I was attempting to tune the guitar when I found that I liked the sound of an untuned instrument.
2. White Noise
Work, work, work.
3. The Pen
I had the idea to represent my restlessness. I’m always fidgeting and tapping my foot, but the only way I could thing to represent that in sound was to irritate everyone with my pen.
1. Upwards.
I walk a lot. I always opt to walk instead of transport and I enjoy the different POV you can have. I think that we miss 90% of the world by just looking straight ahead, so I attempted to show a few different perspectives
2. Steep
Who doesn’t love tea? I previously worked in a tea store, and there is so much to learn about tea. I kind of wanted to show the colours steeping out of the tea, and the “lava lamp” esq effect it has.
3. Downwards
I know it seems lazy, just a different view from up above. Even though downwards is a fairly boring persepective, I decided to use this because of the random people’s shoes that walk by, and the objects/buildings that we come across
I wanted a running theme of green within my media, however some points I really wanted to take a photo or a video and I couldn’t incorporate it. If I was to do this again, I would probably plan out a proper theme or story and really try to access different settings and areas.
Media being interactive is something that stood out to me.
Media can be physically interactive sure, but socially as well. We talk about it while we watch it, we think about it after we have seen it, we read about it and discuss the different points we have read. We read media texts every day, and not just for uni right?
As (hopeful) future media makers, we can see the exploration of our peers and try to sense what they are communicating via their medium, then watch them develop and re work ideas until they get the message across.
obviously with Capitalism there is always going to be a dark side. Mass produced advertisements are always going to be around and even if you don’t like them, you still talk about them.
An ad that offends you is presented, what do you do?
This social interaction you have, either via social media or “IRL”, is a media conversation. This is the text you are discussing. You may not ever win your battle with the company that produced that ad, but you sure as hell won’t give them any money – So their media had an adverse effect, but it was still effective to you in some way.
