There Is No Spoon: Week 4

Posted on by under RMIT

16 Aug

 

Due to being absent for both On the Frame sessions in Week 4, I am limited in my blog post for what I am able to write about related to the week’s learning. In relation to the lesson information, this week I am unable to write about.

Instead, I watched The Matrix, The Matrix: Reloaded and The Matrix: Revolutions; I will watch Inception tonight. I have chosen a comparative essay between The Matrix and Inception for Project Brief 2 in On the Frame. I will write about the affordances of movement in the frame, demonstrated through The Matrix’s bullet-time and Inception’s own frame composition. I am very passionate about my study and am unhappy missing class this week. I will ensure I attend this coming week as I am eager to continue on with the course structure.

Grounded – by Zachary Newbegin

Posted on by under Conscience

I am released as I push through my shell and out into open space. I feel as light as a feather. I struggle to open my eyes but eventually do. In front of me my mother appears.

I am falling; help me. Please, anything: help. My body stops and I am surrounded. Where am I? People are walking over me, looking down on my dissimilarity to them. The ubiquitous, habitual nature to soar and not fall has been displaced – a nature not belonging here in this unfamiliar place, especially in the eyes of the others’. I am in pain, aching for relief from this broken state.

I am afraid, uneasy about my current surroundings. Swiftly looking around in all directions, I seek familiarity and normality; instead, people scurry around me uninterested – all histrionically observing my injured state. No person stops. I am stunned by a wave of disorientation, adrift from all sense of place and protection.

I am alone. Am I the nonentity that every person around me determines that I am? It is crucial that I leave this place now; otherwise, I may become lost in my own bareness. People are beginning to stare at me as I struggle to leave my spot of vulnerability. How can I instigate mobility when this part of me appears irreversibly broken? I need to determine how I will move and leave this overwhelming place.

Blinding light illuminates the space around my body harshly and adorned straight-edged walls box me in. I feel trapped; I am suffocating in a place that is excessively modernist and, through my perspective, is void of any familiarity or meaning. I have not been here before. As I look around, myriad transparent, reflective surfaces echo my foul exterior. I am weak, vulnerable and discomfited. This cannot be real: I must be dreaming.

If this is a dream, there is no real threat to worry about. A conscious epiphany of my dream state has freed me from this unknown horrid place. I will awaken now. Awaken. Now!

Nothing? There is a second, antithetical explanation for my presence here. Am I awake, the damage that I am wearing eliciting senselessness and irrational hallucinations? I have not had hallucinations like these before, but I admit that it is a possibility. Disfigured and motionless forms stare vacantly at me from behind the reflective faces. With two arms, two legs and vacuous expressions, these inanimate forms are ironically anthropological. No one around me looks familiar. Where is my mother? I am ashamed of this animal that I am, unable to muster the strength that will allow me to escape this prison of uninviting façades.

Suddenly, the pain surges as I am thrown into a tighter, darker space. Finding myself in another inapposite place, my confusion intensifies. I must escape the incessant maze of discord – an abyss of non-identity. I look behind me and a stark, impenetrable wall looms over me: this will not be my exit. I turn back to scrutinise the rest of the space and am struck by three sets of eyes staring back in my direction. As I move towards one, it moves towards me. Frightened, I flinch. It flinches back. Perplexed, I become agitated at the sense of falseness and deceit. I repeatedly move towards and away from it, which it does too in imitation. Suddenly I realise: these eyes glaring back at me are also my own. There is something disconcerting about the other three figures in this unseen place.

What trickery or allusion is this? I am here but also three times there? This place does not feel natural or inviting, a place that will never be an approachable milieu. I am screaming, vocalising my qualms, however, no sound resonates. I am overcome by the deafening silence, divorcing any possible sense of place here. These falsified ‘me’s aren’t real; they are perverted reflections of my broken state. I need to avert my eyesight; I can no longer stand to look at myself.

I look up this time, searching desperately for a welcoming sight. Instead, futuristic buttons of light illuminate the right side of the impenetrable wall. I feel more out of place than ever.

Without warning, a blaring noise reverberates in front of my damaged state and the wall splits down the middle and opens. The light outside this confined box is blinding against the cold darkness of unfamiliarity.

Suddenly, a shadow emerges from within the light and picks up my decrepit form. I am being carried away from this place of degradation and towards the light; I am finally soaring – listlessly flying, with the wind beneath my elongated wings.

As I am carried further away from the box of no identity, my eyes adjust and focus to the new space that I have entered. I find myself back where I was beforehand, surrounded by many walking people. They are not, however, as before, walking over me. I am on parallel ground, looking into the faces of those who pass me with detectable curiosity. I look at them and they disappear. Passing through a reflective, transparent wall splitting down the centre – analogous to the impenetrable wall opening prior – I find myself outside.

Before I can appreciate the splendour of liberation, I am carried further away. I am indifferent to the non-place that I have been saved from and do not pay attention.

Eventually, I am placed into a small box no larger than four of my figure placed together. The open sky begins to perish as shadows feast on light and I find myself in total darkness.

After yelling for a long time to no avail, a feeling of out-of-placeness returns and I yield to oblivion. All sense of time and place is entirely lost from me.

Bright light floods the box and I am pulled hastily from its grasp. My eyes once again adjust to the light and I hope for something recognisable. A face materialises and I do not recognise it. I am surrounded by many others – one as sick as a dog and another as a parrot. Yelping and wailing echoes all around me. What is this place? Purgatory?

I am placed onto a flat surface and the Face moves towards me with several menacing metal objects; my breathing intensifies. I am tossed around, material wrapping around my body and underneath my appendages. My constant pain ceases and my breathing calms. The distress is terminated. Eventually, I am carried away.

 

Epilogue

I am back in the nest, capable of finally taking flight. My fixed wing has healed and there is no longer any pain. Looking towards the sky I jump and the airflow across my wings thrusts me off the ground. I am flying. I have reached the place where I belong.

Terribly-made Film: Week 3

Posted on by under Practicals, RMIT

8 Aug

It is already the end of the third week of Semester 2 and I have been flooded with assessment! All three of my subjects have an assessment piece due at the end of week four: fml. In On the Frame this week, the central idea was the notion of movement within (or outside) the frame. Breaking down movement into its constituent parts is fundamental in understanding the illusion of movement within film. These constituent parts, or ‘frames’, are each screened one-after-the-other which tricks human eyesight in perceiving movement across still frames.

After a class discussion on L’Avventura, we watched The Matrix’s famous first ‘bullet-time’ action sequence, where Trinity KICKS SOME ARSE! After watching this, we viewed a short documentary on The Matrix’s famous bullet-time shots which proved to be very interesting as still cameras are responsible for the illusion. After the ‘learning’ part of the three-hour long class, we were off to each film a less-than-one-minute investigation of movement in the frame. Inspired by Trinity, I chose to film movement within the frame, whilst the camera was itself moving in the space. Edited in post-production, I played around with frame duration and altered the speed of each shot.

I am going to be brutally honest to both tutor Dan and myself: the finished product is shittier than ‘Black and Gold’ products. There is, however, the matter of personal perception that needs to be applied to my short film. Through my eyes, I see: an intentionally-constructed sequence that’s on-the-surface awfulness juxtaposes its pedagogical purpose in investigating the effects of shot duration. In everyone else’s eyes: is Zac twelve years-old and using Windows Media Maker?

Judge for yourself!

P.S. The audio is copyrighted and is now in silence… yay. You must view this alongside Right Said Fred’s I’m Too Sexy playing for the video to work.

Proposed Perception – Week 2

Posted on by under Media, RMIT

2 Aug

 

In the Week 2 reading, Susan Sontag writes, “To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed.” That’s just exactly it isn’t it? Focusing on a particular object, or theme, or subject will result in the appropriation of the photographed unto the photographer and viewers of the frame. She states, “Recently, photography has become almost as widely practised an amusement as sex and dancing…” Photography as a ‘social rite’ with no grandiose artistic intent is an interesting modern-day notion that needs further investigation of the social-media-feeding frames.

In the portion of the class where Dan proposed new information and new theories for us to ponder over, we took part in a small exercise where we viewed a Keynote presentation depicting examples of several aspects of the frame, including: colour, depth-of-field, and lighting. Although rather patent, it was a good introduction to the topics that we will be exploring this semester’s class.

Presented in his The Republic, Greek philosopher Plato illustrates the Allegory of the Cave – his unrestricted views on what I have come to enjoy analysing, Perception. He idealises that the ‘intelligible’ world is being masked by a domineering visible or ‘sensible’ world and that philosophers break through this illusion. With prisoners viewing shadowed puppetry and objects whilst hearing human speech, they ‘fill in’ the unknown cause and effect of the shadows based on perception. In the 21st century, this could be expanded to read: “…cause and effect of the shadows based on perception AND personal social, environmental, cultural, political and academic discourses.”

Basically, I will perceive a frame vasty (or rarely minutely) different to how any others perceive the same frame.

This brings to mind reader-centred analysis on literary texts, one of English theorists’ largest debates. Where lies the meaning and who has the control – the artist, or the recipient of art? It is a common debate that I believe, only has one true answer: the recipient of art. Why, you may ask? Because the artist is also always the recipient of their own art however the recipient of art is not always the artist. Was Plato’s Allegory of the Cave the first major exploration of perception being garnered exclusively and independently? As I was away from class on Thursday I did not make it to the screening of L’Avventura (translated “The Adventure”) however I am looking forward to finding a copy of this famous film in my own time and watching it. On the Frame is proving to be a very interesting class indeed!

 

Obligatory Blog Post – Week 1

Posted on by under Media, RMIT

2 Aug

 

On the Frame: yes! I have been eagerly awaiting this Media Two class all semester break. Stoked that I have Dan again as he’s ace; The Natural Confectionary Co.’s Sour Patch Watermelon flavour sweets are identically ace, in my opinion, as I eat them and salivate. What is a frame and what does the term ‘frame’ bring to mind – its history, its composition? For a frame in filmmaking, a film frame belongs to a set of frames – usually 1/24 – that construct the illusion of the moving image. Within visual arts culture the frame is, generally speaking, material (woods, metals) that ‘frames’ a still image – or moving image, or two-dimensional or three-dimensional artworks. In a gallery setting, the physical frame is the spearhead feature for focus and perspective. The artwork is often injected with life, held in an eternal frame, that’s stationary demeanour contrasts the vibrant – or non-vibrant – artwork.

As I was ill and missed the class excursion to the National Gallery of Victoria (N.G.V.), I chose to visit the N.G.V. on my day-off of study with my housemate Liam. It was fun,  gorgeous and awe-inspiring. We became separated in adoration for the artwork and I found myself entranced in a bubble of tasteful art-related analytical thoughts – whereby I was the sole inhabitant. I must add that writing this blog post to Courtney Barnett’s Kim’s Caravan is stimulating and invigorating. Forgetting the purpose of the visit to the gallery, Liam and I spent an hour wandering through the space at a leisurely house. Only when we decided that we were to get Noodle House for dinner were we content and left the N.G.V. and boarded the train from Flinders’ Street Station back to Reservoir.

For Project Brief 1, we have to take 50 shots, or frames, that explored aspects of the frame, cinematography or artists’ intentions in still images. With being sick the first week of semester, I was limited in my time available for this task. I spontaneously informed my housemates that I would love to shoot them for my work and we caught the train down to Flinder’s Street Station; our location: the Princes Bridge. Perfect location for my frames – with the Yarra River and Southbank in the background.

There were several inspirations for me for Project Brief 1 which confirmed my exploration of: sequential frames, taken rapidly at approximately two frames per second; spatial awareness and place, with all frames taking place on the same ‘focal-line’; depth of field; angle; indicated movement; and setting/location. I am looking forward to the finished product.

Final Semester 1 Post: RAY OF LIGHT

Posted on by under Intimate, Projects

4 June

 

By now, I feel as drained as a sink – mentally tired and physically exhausted. These past 4 months have really taken it out of me: with full-time study, moving states, getting a new job, finding a house to live in, and just the overall adjustment to my new life. I have no regrets, however, as I am loving the course, loving my new life and am really excited for the future. I begin this final post by linking to five blog posts that I believe demonstrate my engagement with the course the best whilst depicting my enjoyment:

Media One Lectorial 1: A Reflection

Merrin (vs.?) Mason

V

VII

Media One Lectorial 8: Crescendoing Clap For Dan

In these blog posts, I write about many aspects of the course including: lectorial learnings; a deconstruction and comparison of two readings; my alternate opinion on Wikipedia collaboration; my in-the-moment epiphany of the soundscape at the Yarra River beside the Arts Centre; and my readings of a short film within a lectorial setting. The following ‘learning graph’ is relative to my understandings and knowledge garnered throughout the duration of Media One throughout the first semester:

Screen Shot 2015-06-04 at 8.14.48 pm

 

Throughout the semester, my learning of media-making grew consistently up until week 11 whereby I attended my final lectorial. As seen in the graph, I obviously have thought more critically and creatively about my work as the semester went along. The purple line indicates a negative connotation however this is not the case: I did not understand the importance of my blog in the middle weeks as I believed it was purely for enjoyment and was not going to be part of my final submission. Oh how I was wrong. All in all, I can say confidently that I have enjoyed this semester and look forward to next’s.

I have learned a lot in Media One this semester and have thoroughly enjoyed both learning about and creating my own media work. Drawing on my prior knowledge of media-making, I have increased my ability to think creatively and critically about the work that I made in media. In discussion with a friend, I have also learned that I need to not apologise for the work that I envision or create; I am the God-like figure for my creations and they have been formulated intentionally and astutely. I have also learned, most of all, that media texts are more pervasive in modern cultures and society then we can comprehend.

I have been asked, for this final blog post, to outline ‘how I learn’. HA. I have sniggered at this question all day. To be very honest with you and myself, I learn by not learning. I am a serial procrastinator and do not pay attention when necessary and definitely do not listen to the best of my ability. I learn by teaching myself. This, I realise, is ridiculous and definitely not going to get me anywhere in life. So, therefore, I am making a conscious effort next semester to purge the distractions from my aura and focus on the imperative in my life: studying media at RMIT (as well as spend copious time with my special someone).

The thing that I have found most challenging about this course is relative to any course I could have studied: self direction. I thrive off of self direction however, due to my procrastinatory excellence, this self direction comes at the last moment; at inopportune times. So definitely the motivation and effort I must garner to travel into the city each day for university study is the most challenging aspect relative to me studying. If I must determine a challenge of the Media One course, I would probably pick being at an age whereby anything intellectually stimulating I create will be considered controversial. I have many interesting ideas for media work and art that I wish to one day create; today is not the day.

I have discovered, about my own creative practice, that regularly I am too ‘postmodern’. This pisses me off but is something that I will have to live with because I am not changing myself for anybody. Postmodernity is something that makes a lot of sense to me and is a discourse that I enjoy rather a lot. So the thing that I have discovered will be something that I delve into regularly in the future. Let’s see where my mind takes us.

Media One Lectorial 11: “The Remix & The Glitch”

Posted on by under Lectorials

19 May

As per usual, Dan’s lectorial was on-point. The inclusion of comedic slides in his presentation makes the lectorial much more enjoyable. This week’s focus is on media remixes. The reading that I want to focus this post on is Regressive and Reflexive Mashups in Sampling Culture by Eduardo Navas.

The reading details ‘mashups’ and ‘remixes’ and demonstrates the importance of the difference between the two in media culture, particularly in relation to critical thinking. Whilst the reading began with a focus on music, the reading progressed to media and the web in particular. In relation to the web, web 2.0 theories were pervasive as social media applications were discussed.

a recombination of content and form that opens the space for remix to become a specific discourse intimately linked with new media culture.
Navas, Regressive and reflexive mashups in sampling culture, p. 3

Remixes and mashups are seen/heard throughout society constantly and are considered imperative to our growing and changing media culture. Whilst people argue that remixes and mashups aren’t ‘original’, they do, however, note that they can be ingenious and revolutionary.

Media One Practical 9: Refinement

Posted on by under Practicals, Uncategorized

14 May

In this week’s practical Media One class, we further worked on developing our next assignment: Project Brief 4. After a group conversation regarding the research we each did last week, Monaliza, Sasha and I spent the second half of the class refining our ideas and working out a schedule for the upcoming weeks. We have, unfortunately, decided against focusing on youth culture and drug and alcohol culture in our media artefact however we are very definitive on exploring the representation of self-identity in a growing social media culture. To be created in postmodernity through a visual-art photography piece, it will be supported by our research on Freud’s Psychoanalytical theories. We have determined the amount of work each group member will do over the next week to ensure that by Media One’s tenth practical class we are on top of the work. We have also discussed social opportunities to meet up and spend time together which is ace.

 

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