Monthly Archives: May 2016

Week 12 Practical: Video Essay rough cut

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Again, by rough I mean so rough you could slice your fingers off with a single touch. Our Premiere timeline, while comprehensive, was fragmented and broken into a bunch of random clips of both audio and video. We finally reached a point where our ideas all found a central converging point and the script seems nearing its final stages; everything just rests on the matter of choosing what to split for each essay.

After Effects has been summoned for the video and I’m going to make the effort to learn a few quick little tips and tricks to spice up what Rachel described as a ‘slideshow’. Wish me luck.

Movies I’ve watched this week – 27/05/16

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Week #12. This is the end, finally.

Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972) dir. Werner Herzog
25/05/16
rewatch

aguirre

Self explanatory. ★★★★½

My Best Fiend (1999) dir. Werner Herzog
25/05/16

Beginning to think I like Herzog more as a documentarian than a fiction filmmaker, though his success in documentary would be next to nothing if it wasn’t for the remainder of his oeuvre; more obviously in My Best Fiend, which explores his relationship with megalomaniac actor and friend Klaus Kinsi throughout their collaborative career, and more subtly in Grizzly Man, where the notion of man v nature which more or less plagues the majority of his works throughout the 70s-80s, is exploited in a non-fictional format with Herzog clearly holding the reins. Has a compositional knack for staging interviews (even when they, and mostly do, consist of himself retelling a story) and somehow channels a surrealist mood in such retellings. ★★★★★

Super 8 (2011) dir. J.J. Abrams
26/05/16
rewatch

Written for Letterboxd: 

Abrams wears his Spielbergian influence on his sleeve (obvious considering he produced too) and replicates much of the shell of his early works be it through the child-driven narrative or spectacularly alien finale, even down to his distinctive close-ups, but this characteristic referencing only doubles the impact of Super 8. He infuses the artificiality of it knowingly being a film (a highly self-aware one; known through lens flares and madly pivotal crane shots drawn again from his influences) into a somehow warm family drama which despite its gross explicitness towards the end (a balancing act of feel-good revelations and heavy handed symbolism) feels right. It knows Spielberg and Spielberg knows it.

It’s aware of its ethereality from the get go with the insanity of the initial train crash scene (amongst my favourite scenes probably ever) to the arrival of army forces in almost comic numbers and disposition. On a much smaller scale, Abrams demonstrates this when he has the kids go from filming a cutesy zombie home video to watching in disbelief as one of their teachers seemingly come back to life in the space of ~5 minutes (love it). It’s this symmetry of artificiality and sincerity that he channels through the body of his producer’s work, that he directs with such clarity and perspective that make it the dense masterwork that it is.

Undoubtedly a personal film for Abrams himself, I also find an odd homeliness for myself in the spectacle of the film, something warm and comforting and sweet like a reel of childhood imagery played out on the big screen. There’s something so poignant about the invincibility of youth (which never ceases to put a lump in my throat) that he portrays here, the childlike, authoritative feeling of closure and safety that rings true to me, a period in my life I’ve kinda come to miss. The first time I saw this was only around 18 months ago which doesn’t give it much of a nostalgic bearing to be tapped into on rewatch here, so I’ll attribute that to Abrams’ ability to hone in on raw Spielberg, a man whose films got their fair share of replays in my childhood.

There is truth in the moving image, whether it literally be the reels that reveal the alien’s true nature, or bigger; a compilation of the fleeting, youthful moments of innocence brought to life by Fanning and co. And that’s kinda nice. Aren’t we all a little Abrams at heart? ★★★★★

This is the end. It’s been nice knowing y’all. Now go look for someone who knows more about movies than me.

Media Misrepresentation and Manipulation

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Almost two weeks ago, I got a message from my girlfriend with a link to a Facebook post by one of her former (and much loved and respected) school captains detailing the night he was kicked out of her school’s annual Foundation Day event, held at Bendigo’s (my hometown) cathedral for attending in inappropriate attire. At the time, I thought it was just another post that would sift through the thousands upon thousands of other posts that live on the site.

uh oh spaghetti

But this one stuck. And hard. In under 5 hours, the post had garnered over 800 shares and was well into the thousands of likes and comments, all praising Angus’ bravery and shunning the school’s conservatism (personally, I stand by Angus’ decision to wear the clothes–fairly tame in my opinion). Although I don’t doubt that Angus was well aware the school is extremely traditionalist (anyone who lives in my town has a certain perception of the school and knows their policies), his decision to push their limits was risky, and for that I commend him, but some part of me feels like he was just trying to stir something; I don’t doubt that in one way or another he knowingly violated the dress code (for better or worse; changes to the school’s, and by extension the broader social stigma, or just a hit back at a bump in the road from the past?). But that’s not entirely the point.

At 7:40 the post hit local newspaper Bendigo Advertiser’s website, which makes no explicit reference to the incident being about Angus’ sexuality, with comments from the headmaster (which they took the time out of their day to actually do some hard earned actual journalism) clearly asserting that the occurrence was “an issue of dress code for occasion and institution, not one of sexual discrimination“. Flash forward 24 hours and the post shows up on Cosmopolitan and Buzzfeed, among various other clickbait-y scum sites, with titles posted up on their sites like “You’ll Never Believe the Messed-Up Reason This Gay Man Was Kicked Out of His School Event“, “This Gay Man Was Kicked Out Of An Event For “Dressing Inappropriately”” and my personal favourite “GAY STUDENT EXPELLED: DRESS SENSE ‘DIDN’T SUIT’“, where the title is clearly vague enough to suggest a completely different  story, which flip the whole situation on its dang head. Skewed to the point of no return.

What happened in those 24 hours is the careless media machine at work, churning (and clearly skimming) through the stacks of stories and pulling one out to turn it into the sensationalist piece of web trash where social media users (skimmers) can stop for two seconds, read the misleading headline, like the post, and move on, preaching to their friends and followers about how they ‘read’ an article on something or other when they clearly just had a quick peek at the title. It’s unforgiving and it’s unfortunate, and it pains me to the point of extreme frustration.

How to Make a Good Article, by No-Name Author Who Writes Like a 12 Year Old Who’s Just Discovered Emojis: Step 1: Clickbait headline; Step 2: copy and paste other trustworthy news sites articles and offer no mention or explanation of said clickbait title; Step 3: get paid for being the ignorant, cheap ‘journalist’ that you are.

One of my girlfriend’s teachers happened to be the teacher who allegedly told Angus to leave and has since announced that they didn’t actually ask him to leave but rather disallowed him from sitting in a certain 2-row section at the front of the cathedral, after which Angus supposedly made his exit. Additionally, the night of the Facebook post the teacher’s front yard was vandalised. Mob mentality truly is frightening.

I’m also lowkey furious at the scourge of the earth that is Cosmopolitan for the opening line “Angus McCormick was visiting his hometown of Victoria, Australia…”, like dudes, come on, do some dang research, plus this: “Since the incident, he has not been contacted by the school“, when there is clear-cut evidence to show that he has. Moral of the story: clickbait websites are the scum of the earth, and double check your sources before you fully commit to a story, whether you’re the writer or the reader.

Technological determinism, digital amnesia and the failing hard drive in our heads

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While searching for any excuse to not be blogging (and delaying any lectorial posts) I skimmed through my Following list and saw Ryan’s post about technological determinism posted on his much acclaimed Knock Knock Appreciation Blog and thought it was time to give in. Short and sweet (the opposite to my posts), he touches on Nicolas Carr’s 2008 essay ‘Is Google Making Us Stupid?‘, something I took the liberty of reading (at least 80% of). Today, writings on social media’s influence on our brains has been done almost to death, but flashing back to 2008 Carr’s writings seem all the more stimulating. 2008 was hardly long ago yet I can recall next to nothing from the year (I was eleven, grade 5: I think I was excelling at at maths? Still blind and glasses-less, struggling my way through life), and the notion of social media and the internet seems so recent that 2008 somehow feels like decades in the past, and Carr something of a prophet (hyperbole), even though Facebook had been around for almost half a decade the internet itself almost two. This mindset just comes from being born in the 90s, I guess.

2001-A-Space-Odyssey-2

Even trying to write this, I became distracted an uncountable amount of times, engrossed in my phone or struggling to stand by the deal I made (and often make) with myself where I reward my unwavering attention to a task with a YouTube video or something of the like (the video usually comes first, and most of the time stimulates positive work). Even just reading this, I had the tendency to skim sections relating to the history of the theory and take a liking to cute little metaphors that basically summed up arguments like “Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski“, and “The process of adapting to new intellectual technologies is reflected in the changing metaphors we use to explain ourselves to ourselves. When the mechanical clock arrived, people began thinking of their brains as operating “like clockwork.” Today, in the age of software, we have come to think of them as operating “like computers.”” You win this time, Carr.

Regardless, Carr’s writings ring as true now as they did then. But since, the phenomenon The Google Effect has been named, and the answer to Carr’s question answered: yeah righto, maybe a little bit, in one way or another. The effect, also known as digital amnesia is defined as the “tendency to forget information that can be found readily online by using Internet search engines” and is definitely something I have fallen victim to (not that it doesn’t have its benefits; thanks, amalgamation of information readily available at our fingertips).

Even in Popular Culture in Everyday Life, one of my chosen electives for first semester, we were taught how to properly skim pieces of writing. There’s no doubt it’s an efficient tool when left in the right hands. But there’s also no doubt that some aspects of the ever-engrossing truthfulness of technological determinism are problematic. I read less books than I used to (something I’ve been trying to change as of late; even though I never really read that many books) and although the enjoyment I draw from skimming articles online is a far cry from that of traditional (often physical; maybe an influence?) books, I do get fidgety and think to reach for my phone. It’s not the healthiest thing, and when I am putting myself in a position where I want or need to read for an extended period, I put my phone at least out of arm’s reach. Moreover, the AMC ‘phones in the cinema’ debacle in April, with CEO’s possibility of a ‘texting section’ or ‘specific auditorium and make them more texting friendly’ (many explicitly explicitly asked that these be clearly labelled so they know which ones to stay as far as possible away from) stemming from a similar strand of thinking.

In the increasingly digitised world of 2016, Carr’s claim that “In Google’s world … The human brain is just an outdated computer that needs a faster processor and a bigger hard drive” is at least a little prophetic. The problem now is that the hard drive is failing, and at a more rapid rate than expected.

Self-doubt

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It’s week 12 and everything’s coming to a close, so a little reflection is only necessary. The shift from high school to university has proved to be a less daunting task than I had originally perceived it to be; a few mates here and there, a working routine and an engaging curriculum for the most part. I feel like I’m surrounded by people who share similar interests and views and humour, and what more can you ask? Feels like home.

So why is it that at the closing of the semester that I feel the most self-conscious about my course and my learned abilities? Friends make comments in passing about the legitimacy of it (and I won’t doubt that I’ve talked it down in passing too: “in one of my classes we just watch a movie” is a line I’ve used far too many times for my own liking, though thankfully those sounds have begun to fade) and I seem to have seriously overstated my skills in some of my classes (hey I passed that assignment, at least). I’ve never been an overly confident person (labelled in all caps ‘SHY’ by every teacher that’s ever taught me) in anything, from my ideas to my talents to my views, always overshadowed by constant doubt and disapproval that these ideas don’t make sense, aren’t backed by the right authority or don’t represent who I am as a person in the world; and a looming self-consciousness has thrown me on the opposite path many times. But I guess that’s life, c’est la vie, you can’t control everything you do or how people see you, and you can’t mold this perfect shell of a representation. I’ve taken a step back to realise the little hints of light-hearted unseriousness I’ve found I add to everything I say and the fact that I’ve only known these (wonderful) people for such a short time that they have no idea what I was like previous. You’ve just gotta say or do the right thing at the right time among the right people and you’ll get your way. No pressure, kid.

As much as we might wish, we can’t all be Jim Jarmusch cool. jim jarmusch cool

Being stuck in a small room with only a desk and a bed (an artist’s cliche) with a laptop and TV forces me to always be ‘working’ in some way or another (there isn’t much else to do where I’m staying). Whether that be opening and staring the New Post window or scrawling through my Subscriptions list on YouTube, everything kinda  feels like work for this course. The consuming (and ‘noticing’) of all media forms that we have been encouraged to do has for better or worse validated my usual lazy doings as ‘work’ which has blurred the lines between study and play, and I don’t doubt that that’s where my insecurities about my friends’ comments are incubated. I feel in my mind I have played down the seriousness of my course for a little too long and that has seeped out into the realm of actuality in my head. Regardless, I’ll undoubtedly continue to make the most of the short time I have at uni while I still can; next semester’s (and the semester’s after that, etc.) Studios look and sound like they get down to serious business (and specific, less of the less constrained freedom of this semester–not that this is at all a negative, but it’ll help in my responses to questions from relatives such as “what do you actually do in your course?“, y’know) and for those I am truly excited.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
of course you don't“Do what you love” – ancient proverb, small superfluous inspiration from relative or excuse to piss around?

Week #11 Practical: Audio Essay rough cut

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By rough cut, I mean really rough cut; so rough that it doesn’t exist at this point. My group has been through a plenitude of re-hauls in direction, from social media to audiences and back and it seems like we’ll never find a nice topic to settle on. At this point, we’ve a rough draft of a script with parts floating around in all different directions.

We had complications with one of group members (who was on narration) during the past few days which set us back a week but we can and will rebuild. Audition is a feisty beast that can be tamed.

Brian set us in motion with a few tips on the texture of the essay, recommending we head down to the ACMI site and catch some ‘on-the-fly’ audio. And so we did. And what a journey it was. The other members of my group had never been so it was an enlightening experience for them personally (I hope/I guess) and for us as a group, which may sprout newer, more creative ideas in the future. Bring on week 12.

Margot Nash: A Cinematheque Retrospective

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Tonight the Cinematheque hosted their weekly screening this week in the small cinema at ACMI which unfortunately was the night where their filmmaker in focus was actually at the screening. Margot Nash introduced her new film The Silences and answered the crowd’s various inquiries; an enlightening, and unconventionally New Zealand (if not partly Australian) experience. Right on.

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