Green Eggs and Sam

/ Up and Away /

I have created a self portrait which I believe shows my love of travel, singing, sport and celebrities.

I have also included some inspirational text that I have written myself, reflecting perhaps the fact that people always tell me that they live “vicariously through me”. I sort of love this concept as I have many idols myself, and the fact that others perhaps ‘admire’ me, makes me feel incredibly proud of myself at this point in my life.

Sound is one of my favourite elements in film and I have chosen to use sounds that I think show what I love – including singing. Obviously I had to be careful of copyright laws so I decided to record myself doing some humming random notes in the shower (a place where I sing all the time). I have also recorded crowds as I love the idea of fame as well as also being outside, experiencing nightlife but I love meeting others.

The portrait begins with an image of an aircraft landing as if to say that I am landing in order to tell people a little about myself. However over the top of the portrait is an element of metaphoric in terms of the plane being used as a symbol of inspiration (a way of getting in and out of situations). This highlights my love of travel as well as highlighting the fact that I do follow inspirational quotes in order to make the most of all of my experiences. Throughout the film, there are parts where I talk about “hitting turbulence” again reiterating the idea of aircraft and travel. The film ends with an aeroplane taking off which I believe represents my life and the fact that it is only just starting and taking off into full flight.

I have also included images and video that reflect me as a person. For example I am often seen throwing pieces of paper into bins because I love sport and always want to be doing something other than sitting still.

I have experimented with the time lapse app on my iPad. I used it to time lapse a clock ticking to show that life for me goes by quite quickly, so I try and make the most of it.

wk2  Media is not a ‘thing’ out there [but rather a place we inhabit]

In this lecture, we were required to get into small groups and head outside into ‘the real world’ and investigate media use all around us. The purpose of this activity was to make us more aware of media and its use within today’s society – something that in my opinion is often overlooked. I found this activity incredibly insightful as it allowed me to become more aware of my surroundings and become aware of the way people interact with ‘the media’ within their every day lives. For example there were advertisements on Melbourne Central for the film ‘Focus’ featuring Margot Robbie and Will Smith but on the other hand there were brochures in the state library advertising up and coming exhibitions. There was a great amount of technology use (mainly dominated by Apple products like iPhones, iPads and Macbooks).

• “The media are no 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 2010, The Media Student’s book, 5^th, NY: Rout Ledge.

Pre-modern vs. Modern society (also a question of authenticity – debates about mediated vs. unmediated communication)

Pre-modern Society

Social world predominately experienced through:

– Face to fact interactions

– Direct experiences

Modern Society

Predominately through media/texts

– maps, books, newspapers…

wk1  Media is re-learning [how, where and why we learn]

I found this lecture incredibly exciting as it was the first Media 1 lecture I had ever been to and in fact, the first university lecture I had ever been to.

We discussed the idea of learning and why we do it. There were readings about Hyper and Deep attention (deep attention characterised by a long period of focus on one object and hyper attention characterised by switching focus rapidly among different tasks). It was interesting as, as we read on, I found that hyper attention is more adaptive than deep attention in contemporary developed societies due to our overuse of technology enabling us to do more things at once. However there is an argument that questions how much better hyper attention is than deep attention considering there is a lack of focus which in my opinion can be unsafe in certain situations.

In this weeks lecture the topic of learning and how we learn was discussed. We were made to reflect on the ways in which learn as well as touching on the things we wish to learn. When thinking about what I would like to learn, I think it would mostly be learning to be placed more often outside of my comfort zone doing activities that I wouldn’t normally do. I wish to show off more of my creativity as in the past I have not been able to do this. I think when thinking about the career path in which I wish to follow, it is important to be more confident in the work that I do and to make mistakes that I will learn from. The most challenging aspect of this course will be keeping up with the work load as often when I lose track, I find it difficult to get back to where I was. I think also having to do tasks that I may not like may be difficult but I definitely want to learn to step outside of my comfort zone.

I am incredibly excited about this course as I know that it will teach me so many things related to the media presenting career path that I want to follow as well as giving me skills in other areas that may help me in other areas of work or life in general!