Listening to the audio essay from radiolab was a new experience it felt different from a straightforward podcast I’d normally listen to. Many audio devices were placed in the piece which got me thinking about creative ways we can implement these in our own work. Momentum was maintained by the constant overlapping of voices of the hosts and guests. The hosts played many parts: introducing experts, interjecting their own thoughts in anecdotes, providing comedic relief and even acting as a voice for the audience in questioning experts for us.
Music was used in a very practical way to establish time. When we were hearing information from long ago there was vintage music for example the 40’s vs the 70’s.
Sound effects I also found engaging were the dolphin calls, cats purring brain waves. The brain waves converted into sound made visualise the undulating and sometimes erratic electric activity in the brain.
This audio essay had a complex array of sound textures.
I’ve realised that it is important to choose a topic or a style of portraying a topic where sound can be effectively used to prove a point or paint a picture.
Adam Hyde, Mike Linksvayer et al, 2012, ‘What is Collaboration Anyway?’ in The Social Media Reader, Ed. Michael Mandiberg
“The intensity of these relationships can be described as sitting somewhere on a continuum from strong ties with shared intentionality to incidental production by strangers, captured through shared interfaces or agents, sometimes unconscious byproducts of other online activity”
Before reading this, I had never thought of online “non-interactive” activity as a form of collaboration. This is because I don’t often see others as having a similar goal to me especially when we haven’t met.
This reminds me of pinning boards on Pinterest. Boards are a compilation of photos and links to more pages organised by topic. On Pinterest like a communal cork board you can pin and unpin sources. Other can view your board and then take your pins and place it on theirs. In a way, although not very personal, all Pinterest members areworking together to create similar goldmines of photos. When I first made an account I found that it was very easy to find some treasures already nicely compiled for me. Soon enough people were pinning from my own boards.
Mob mentality can be dangerous especially online. Derren Brown’s show demonstrates how quickly a group of dehumanised people can escalate to violence and deliberately harming others. On his show he gives people masks and sits them in a group as an audience.
But on the other hand mob mentality can be good. It has become a trend to make FAKE “social experiment” Youtube videos that shame a particular group of people or are very biased in proving common view. They gain views because as cruel humans we enjoy watching others become embarrassed online. If we were to see this happening in real life we would act as individuals and intervene. On youtube where generally our only trace of identity is our user name and chosen photo we can indulge in prank videos all we like. However, the ever chaotic comment section sometimes proves to be useful in exposing videos for what they really are. On some videos more observant viewers point out flaws and the injustices of the video. The up voting system youtube has where you can like a comment so it stays atop the mountain of comments to be seen by all the viewers allows particular viewpoints to be shared. In a way this is a form of teamwork as the more educated viewers are helping others shine the light on the truth. Popularising vital information about the falsities of sensationalist media through anonymous up voting is one of the greater parts of strangers “working together” for the sake of avoiding ignorance.
Our first meeting went smoothly however we decided that we need more time for each one in the future. Focussing on the idea of how different companies create entertainment for the public with an institutionalised mindset was difficult because of the vagueness of the topic. After much discussion we realised that kpop and MTV have strong and starkly different ideals for how to reel in fans
The purest idea of an “Idol” encapsulates the south Korean pop culture mindset.
We discussed the repercussions of scandal when these idols are exposed in comparison to MTV stars who thrive off debauchery. MTV seems to host shows that make the general public feel better about themselves while the kpop scene creates idealistic models of pop culture to look up to.
It seemed like our conversation had gone a bit off track until Rachel reminded us of our brief: INSTITUTIONS. I do however think that the “star factory” process of creating a desired and perfected product. Kids are taken an train for years to become kpop stars and some never even debut.
As for MTV the use of youths for our entertainment is not unfamiliar. Shows like “16 and Pregnant” star girls facing the struggles of motherhood, their dramas becoming our whimsical amusement.
I was walking down Swanston st and I was shocked to see quite an unconventional sight.
A line of eerily masked still figures shrouded in black fenced the side of Flinders St carrying open laptops and phones. They were wearing Guy Fawkes masks so I assumed it was something to do with the online hacktivist group Anonymous. Turns it out wasn’t them, but it did have an anti-establishment sort of vibe. They had created an attention grabbing scheme piggybacking off the well established internet vigilante groups.
I had come across these confronting vegan videos before on Facebook and I found them quite invasive of my casual scrolling. One minute I was looking at my friend’s birthday party album, the next I was watching a chicken being strangled to death through the lens of a hidden camera.
To me, exposing highly disturbing content can go two ways; either your attention is forcibly attained then you proceed to try and find out what the issue is, or it completely shuts the you down as it is ‘too much’ to swallow.
The protest had brought this idea into the context of a busy street. They were literally screening graphic images of animals being killed on their laptops holding them open for the public eye.
I’ve noticed that vegans typically get a bad (tofu) wrap for being too insistent and boisterous about their seemingly cleaner lifestyle. I struggled not to roll my eyes when my friend declared that she had found enlightenment through a revolutionary salad that looked like an angel’s garden.
As a desperate media student hunting down things to blog about I was excited to pursue these masked plant eaters. I noticed that passerbys watched from the corner of their eyes as they briskly paced away from the group. Then something strange happened. A lady holding an iPhone filming the process took off her mask and basically humanised herself. I talked to her for a bit and some other curious people started asking questions. Another lady took off her mask and laughed, “its ok we aren’t scary!”
The striking scene of uniform masked people in a line had done a good job of intimidating but hadn’t allowed people to approach them for information; which I think is vital if you’re trying to convert/convince people.
I was lucky enough to talk to the guy who organised the whole protest and he certainly had a lot to say. He passionately urged that no decent human would run rampant in the streets stabbing dogs or kicking pigs, yet we allow this to happen by acting as passive consumers. We blindly fuel the the industry without questioning their methods.
The main message is that if we as consumers don’t see what goes on in the slaughter houses we don’t feel like a part of the atrocious crime of the cruel killings.
One thing I found strange about this whole set up was the stark contrast of ideas they were selling. The clean and happy vegan lifestyle vs the dark images of graphic animal slaughterings. I was handed a pamphlet with a smiling lady who looked like she was a modern snow white; friends with the happy forest creatures and one with nature.This tactic of shocking people with horrific imagery then providing a pleasant alternative is quite clever and well thought out. I definitely did a double take on my way to McDonalds and have since flinched a bit at my ham sandwiches. I think that I’m on my way to part-time vegetarianism if anything.
In the past there has been controversy about whether or not it is ethical to use shocking photos/ videos without a warning in the news. But now with the fusion of social media and hard news: that barrier of protection has been removed. Now no one is safe from seeing shocking content even in their facebook feed. Perhaps we have already become desensitised.
They handed me a business card with the title of a vegan documentary.
