There was a last minute call from my pal Jenny to be a part of her group’s film as an extra. Based off experience with highschool media being an extra always fun. This was first time (I’ve been quite anti-social) that joined an unknown group to help with their work and it was fantastic! They were organised, decisive and very friendly to everyone there. Their short film is about a nerdy loser (his words not mine) who finds it difficult to socialise but comes alive because of his love for the band Space Monkeys. We as extras had the vital and excruciatingly challenging role of appearing to be a squad of bustling hipsters in line for one of the beloved indie rock band’s concerts. Today I learned from students in media 3 (3 times as good as media obviously) to keep the crew relaxed and natural for the best effect. In the end they just let us talk in line about whatever came to mind instead of telling us to “act normal,”  which would not have gotten the same results.

The posters were too new looking so we had to wear down the posters with coffee and tearing.

I went to a suprise screening Silence of the Lambs (1991) and it was absolutely thrilling. Before the screening we had no idea what we were in for. They immerse us in the world of the film before revealing to us what it was through setting and acting of the common lounge area. Actors had been hired to walk around the area looking important and muttering hurriedly in American accents.

Watching Silence of the Lambs made me realise the power of creating a great memorable character. I never thought of myself to be a “slasher film” kind of person when my friends excitedly said, “don’t worry you’ll love it!” But this film was so different from what I originally thought. I loved how we watched Clarice grow as a person.

Anthony Hopkin’s screen presence was outstanding, everytime he spoke I would hold my breath and get shivers at his delivery.

I realise that this is a terrible photo and the sign across the train tracks is barely visible. But this is exactly what is bothering me. I love ads sometimes even they they just want my money but this Spec savers board has me squinting. As someone who is short sighted I already find it hard to read big billboards. The only way I could read that poster was when I asked my friend what it said (we were very very bored). You’d think that an ad company selling sight to the foggy -visioned would make their advertising a little clearer.

Asians In the Media

Growing up I never used to see that many people who looked like me in movies or TV shows. I’d get excited when I saw a mildly asian character in a cartoon. But often they were kungfu masters. When we played power puff girls in primary school I was always butter cup because she had black hair. Don’t get me wrong, we had some quality TV shows growing up that educated, entertained and enthralled us; but I still felt like I needed a little representation. The closest I had was the blue haired slightly ethnic Shane from Tracy Mcbean. He was the doubtful but loyal sidekick of Tracy; a pioneer for young girls venturing into various fields of science. But what about Shane?

So are anime characters white? I mean really she’s a dazzling blonde with eyes that take up a 1/3 of her face. If you believe that a moon princess can come down to earth to save the world with her powerful talking moon cats; surely you can believe that she is Japanese.

On the jam packed peak hour train home, I’ve noticed an interesting trend that we all take part in. Everyone seemed to be in a meditative state, heads bowed and hand

Could help but think of these monks preying.

WHAT IS MY POINT: smart phones are great but….. In a way being in constant contact with the media through a device like a smart phone has become religious. A lot of us wake up in the morning and the first thing we do is check our phones. We do it while we eat, get ready to sleep and carry it with us almost everywhere. How else would we stay spiritually- I mean socially connected. I often find myself relentlessly scrolling through some sort of feed, passively taking in all the contact, occasionally snorting a cat gif. This happens so often that I had to place Facebook blocking apps on my computer to direct my attention to actual work. As a media practitioner now though I now consider my constant browsing to be field research.

What worries me is that I often check my phone and slip into a meditative state; I stop critiquing and analysing what I see. After reading 1984, I’m paranoid about becoming brainwashed by What I’ve noticed is that when we spend time with friends in person we think in “likes.” We would rather take a photo of an interesting coffee mug than taste it for ourselves. How many likes is this trip worth? I could get at least 100 if I manage to catch a good sunset. My old friend invited me over, and to our disbelief- but not really- we found her younger sister holding a DP (Display picture) photoshoot. Now there were apparently three parts to this photo shoot; discussion of poses, actual taking of photos, then an intensive group chat board meeting about which would gain the most likes. She is was 16 and already strategically marketing herself. I look at my own dp with my quirky face and lack of “like” hauling aspects and think well damn. Using a smart phone to shoot a film has become real.

In my family my younger sister and I used to have internet curfews, blockers and even got roasted for having our eyes glued to our phones but that won’t stop us.

Sounds make me feel things, and I can’t make it stop.

I’m one of those people who can’t even watch the trailers for horror films because they are just too intense. On my late night YouTube sessions I would dread the unexpected ad for a a horror film. This lead to the development of a reflex action where I’d hit the mute button. That’s when I realised I was JUST scared of the soundtrack and I could watch as much gruesome horror as I liked as long as there was no classic heavy breathing or incessant ringing. When I’m walking around at night in the dark, to avoid the scary thoughts, I pretend I’m in a cheery musical where it would not be logically possible for me to get attacked by a masked demon.