For our 3rd project brief, we are asked to create a 2 minute media portrait of someone we know. The first person to come into my mind was my MUM, because she is awesome and I have a lot of ideas that I can put into this video to represent her.

Some quick ideas I have:

1. Photos of her in the 90’s when she arrived in Australia from Vietnam (to show how hip her fashion sense was back then)
2. Old photos of me and her when I was young
3. A video showing all the small, quirky things she buys + collects to put around the house
4. An audio recording of my short interview with her (possible talking about her immigration  and how that has changed her life)
5. And other things that are still in the thinking process

I want to show her as a fun (and funny!!), outgoing, family person who goes out of her way to make others happy

Hopefully this 2 minute video will do her justice 

The main aim of Project Brief 2 was to create a one minute self-portrait video which allowed viewers to have an insight on who we are through the use of photographs, videos and sound.

In my video, I wanted to show people my fun, colourful life that consisted of family, collections and how media plays a big role in my life.
The audio recording of television news in the very beginning of my video shows my obvious interest in the media and a current affairs.
The short part where you hear me play the piano tells the audience of an instrument I used to play when I was young, though not very good, I did like it, but it ended with a smash of the keys at the exact time my Edgar Allan Poe quote appears on screen. This gives the idea that sometimes, it did drive me a little bit insane when I couldn’t get the notes right.

I think what worked well in my video was that the photos in the beginning were of very high quality, making the footage look colourful and vivid like the idea I was trying to put forth. The different clips gave the audience a nice window into myself.

What did not work well and what I would like to improve on greatly next time was that some of the video footage that was in the last half of the film was of low quality. The two factors that I believe played part to it not being as high quality as the other photographs was the camera and the lighting. Another idea that may have confused the audience was how the content may have seemed random, because it did not tell a linear story. But after explanation, it will make sense.

Today in class we were taken back to those happy-go-lucky times in primary school where the only things we worried about was if our Faber Castell connector pens were in the right order, if we remembered to bring our hats to avoid that evil, “No Hat No Play” rule and finally, those colourful Dr Edward De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats.

Here’s a link which summarises each hat for those who have either forgotten or have not yet been introduced to such a phenomenon:

In groups, we went around and shared our lo-fi self portrait media pieces and received feedback from different people.
One of the ‘yellow-hat’ thoughts I received was that with my audio recording, a vivid image of what was happening and the surroundings could easily be pictured, and that the photos showed a clear representation of my character.
A small ‘black-hat’ feedback was with the audio recording, I have a snippet of a song in the beginning, which may cause copyright issues. This I will remove.

Getting compliments aswell as constructive criticism from peers was affective in helping me with my second step, editing, removing, adding and then creating a one minute video for my Media Self-Portrait Project Brief 2, where I add all my different components into one footage.

This is currently under construction.

How each media material helps represent and communicate myself:

The photos:
1. The snow globe photograph shows my love for snow globes, winter, travel and architecture.
2. The photo of the DVDs, at first glance, the bright, eccentric colours is what pops out the most, showing how I like my life to be colourful, exciting and standing out from the crowd. This photo also represents my obsession with DVD collection, television and pop culture.
3. The photographs in the third image shows my grandparents and their children (my mum, aunts and uncles) in 1982 when they were still in Vietnam, and the photograph below it is of my one-year-old self and my cousins. This shows my Vietnamese culture and gives people the idea of how important family is to me.
4. The final photo is of an old vinyl. This represents the obvious, my liking of the band ‘Cheap Trick’, but also symbolises my love for music and traditional ways of enjoying it.

The videos:
1. The first video uploaded communicates the idea that I am a relaxed person. The people laying on the grass, the sun and the music all produce a calm but fun atmosphere. (Although, ironically, right at this point of recording, I had a huge cramp in my leg and could not move)

The audio recordings:
1. The sound recording of my baby cousin laughing and my mum, grandma and aunty talking to him communicates a tight-knit, fun family in which I am a part of
2. The second recording is of a microwave and then of news on the TV. This communicates the idea that like every other human being, I sometimes heat up my food… but also that I enjoy keeping up to date with current affairs and what’s happening around the world. Watching the news is a daily routine. (One of the reasons why I am doing media)

IMG 2242 from Sandy Nguyen on Vimeo.

IMG 2199 from Sandy Nguyen on Vimeo.

(Watch the videos in HD on the Vimeo website)