http://www.themediastudents.net/im1/projects/where_we_come_from/

 

What did you do well?

The things that I did well were that I completed all of the set work, showed up to all classes, sought out additional content both in relation to readings and Korsakow and improved my blogging ability having previously not used blogs for an extended period of time.

What have you learnt to do better?

Through studying Korsakow this semester I have learnt how an alternate method of work; each piece of work does not have to be a masterpiece and have a specific purpose. I have also learnt about the benefits of lists and how they can show how things link to other things not necessarily directly.

What could you have learnt to do better?

I believe I could have dedicated more time to time management as some of my later tasks were somewhat rushed. I also feel that I could have put more effort into tasks and further immersed myself as I needed to complete most of them last minute.

Overall Grade: C+

 

This

I found this and though it was interesting in that most people seem to praise Korsakow for its non-linearity whereas Kris Vanston seems to disagree.

 

http://krisvanston.com/2013/05/14/korsakow-the-means-to-an-end/

Here is the link to the film
The House

 

http://www.themediastudents.net/im1/2014/troy.torcasio/

The Korsakow film I have chosen to analyse is Autumn Wandering (http://vogmae.net.au/classworks/media/2011/films/AutumnWandering/) by Jerry Guan Wang, Lisa Bradley, Nelson Shun Po Wu, and Yoon Young Jang from 2011. It depicts various locations and people around Melbourne during the autumn season with classical music playing in the background. I feel this is a good example in that it has a smooth flowing interface to it and overall is a cohesive piece of work as all of the elements are directly related to each other.

The film uses an interface which consists of a title screen with an image of a leaf, the name of the project and the creators’ names. Once inside the project the active video takes up the left of the screen with a black and white clipart picture of a leaf flying in the air at the bottom of the page. On the right of the project are 9 icons that change depending on the video. Rather than an image of the actual video, these are pictorial icons with a leaf, flower, or people for the relevant videos.

Pattern is present in the flow of the project in the limited colour scheme for the interface (nature such as flowers and leaves are always coloured whereas all other elements are black and white to further emphasise the element of nature), the way in which the choice of video always includes a person, a leaf and a flower and the leafs themselves which appear in every video to remind you that it is autumn.

Some of the common themes of this project are the use of contrast (both in use of the colour green and occasionally yellow as well as black and white) and the theme of nature, specifically autumn.

Music is also played throughout the piece which is Troika Drive by MC Tchaikovsky which gives the piece a tranquil feeling and makes it seem like a silent film although the background noise is present in each of the clips. The music stimulates your emotions to make you feel as if you have actually gone out on a walk.

The project (in relation to week three readings “David Bordwell & Kristen Thompson – Film Art ~ An Introduction“) is an experimental film of sorts in that there is not a clear narrative but rather a collection of movies in relation to a theme or themes; in this case autumn and nature. It also uses a range of camera shots including long and medium shots and some close-ups however most are shot from the same angle; front on with only several from high angle shots.

The project also (in relation to week one reading “Studies in Documentary Film 2012 Aston”) would be considered an interactive documentary in that the user interacts with what they see and can travel through the project at their own pace therefore making it a perfect example of “The Hypertext mode.”

When all of the elements are combined, I feel that the aim of this Korsakow film is to point out that we neglect the beauty of nature in our everyday lives and that seasons come and go and yet we never stop and take the time to look around. Also nature is very interpretive, it could be represented by the person walking through crisp autumn leaves, sitting on a park bench or even watching birds fly past.

Troy Torcasio S3381625

Experimental Films are a good way to showcase alternate methods of film-making without following traditional conventions. There is no need to have a story, but rather just an idea. Experimental film more recently has evolved to cover a greater amount of media while still staying true to its original form. The video game LSD Dream Emulator (1998) on Playstation 1 uses the rules of experimental films but does so in an interactive manner. In the game you are in a dream-like state where you can wonder around different areas. Each area has random music, animals, colours and text, things can repeat, change and perform unorthodox responses and actions such as hitting a wall will make you advance to a new area. Sometimes in lieu of certain levels an experimental film will play such as a child eating or machines operating. Rather than playing like a game, it is more of a film that you can control. There is no true ending to this game and just like an experimental film its meaning and interpretation is up to the individual.