X

Posted on by under manifest

10 May

Following on from this week’s focus on institutions, music in particular is interesting as an extension of this. On Sunday night, Emily and I went to Rod Laver Arena to see alt-J perform. Before my robotic thoughts on media institutions in relation to these, I need to express my delight. alt-J were INCREDIBLY INCREDIBLE. That, for me, is the best way to describe how great they were. Audibly and visually brilliant, the band performed a great set. ‘Taro’ was by far the best song performed and ‘Fitzpleasure’ was definitely the second.

Now, onto mindless thoughts (oh how I love oxymorons). I did read the weekly readings on media institutions however as they concern social media and broadcast television, they are not closely related enough to music for evidential substance. I suppose I could continue my discussion on authorial valuation however apropos to music institutions this time. Rod Laver Arena is an institution. alt-J is an institution. The music industry is an institution. Indie-rock music as an institution. Four institutions collaborating on Sunday evening. Three of them burdened by authorial valuation; one well-recognised as subjective due to personal taste. I do agree that yes, I thought the following prior to Sunday:

alt-J is alt-J. Rod Laver Arena is only for the biggest artists. Indie-Rock concerts have great atmosphere.

I do recognise authorial valuations influencing my preconceptions. But is this necessarily incorrect? In truth, it depends on a lot of factors: whether or not alt-J have ever performed shit-ily; whether or not Rod Laver Arena has hosted minor artists before; and whether or not I would enjoy an Indie-Rock concert. All I know is that the concert was incredible and whether it was genuinely amazing or my authorial valuation persuaded this opinion is irrelevant. In correlation to my opinion on placebos, who cares. As long as it does the job then sweet.

Media One Lectorial 10: Institutions Everywhere!

Posted on by under Lectorials

12 May

 

Institutions is a fiddly term. It can define an organisation or company, group of companies, collective industries and myriad of other things. To be honest, I do not really know where the line is drawn. Oh well, either way, this week’s focus is in institutions. Concerned with organising the structures of society, institutions have principles, values that underline social, cultural, political and economic relations.

ABC, HBO, NBC, CNN, FOX, SBS, HOMO… “These are a few of my favourite things.”

Television is love. Television is life. Publicity of television institutions in particular has grown exponentially in recent years – with the broadcast of world-renowned Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad. What is is about television institutions that excite us? Yes, the story worlds and narratives of the shows. But there are other aspects drawing us in: promotion and marketing, hottest celebs and, most compelling, authorial valuation. I have thought for some time now that the relationship between television institutions and audience has been influenced primarily by authorial valuations.

Oh my glob! Jonah from Tonga (ABC & HBO) is AMAZING! So great. Much laughter. lol.
– Society members who have no intelligent personal opinions

It is probably conceited of me, probably elitist of me, but I do not believe that people who believe Jonah was amazing have a mind of their own. Authorial valuation is a hilarious topic. Chris Lilley is a God, don’t get me wrong! Jonah, however, failed in comparison to its predecessors. There is a direct link between authorial valuation and television institutions and currently more-so than authors of film or novels. The age of television is now.

Media One Practical 8: Development

Posted on by under Practicals

7 May

In this week’s Media One practical, practically, we were practical about text practices. Obviously I am procrastinating from writing anything worth the time to read but I will attempt captivation. This lesson involved getting together with our groups (for me – Monaliza, Sasha and myself) and talking through our research for Project Brief 4. Between the three of us, we have plenty of academic source materials to sift through for the theory aspect of the project. After a discussion with Dan (always enjoyable), we had an inspirational epiphany on the artefact we would create. The three of us are definite on creating a physical artefact for the project – filled with sexuality, postmodernity, and psychoanalytical discourses: all the good stuff! Things are beginning to look up. Perhaps the universe has said, “You know what, we have had our fun. Is it time to stop with the fire and let the burns heal?”

On a side note (kind of), I am absolutely loving the course. I have had this goal in mind for several years and to finally live it is incredible. I have achieved amazing results this first semester so it definitely goes to show that perseverance and determination are the two most important mindsets for achievement. I look forward to what the future brings. Is the future predetermined? Is the future down to chance? Is the future irrelevant? I don’t know what I think at the moment. All I know is that I am very excited to see how Monaliza’s, Sasha’s and my project turns out.

Media One Lectorial 9: Audiences

Posted on by under Lectorials

5 May

Who cares about audiences? Advertisers? Filmmakers? Academic scholars? This week’s lectorial on media consumption, in particular focusing on the idea of ‘audience’, was informative. In today’s modern media world, preconceived notions on media consumption are constantly being subverted and reconsidered as the audience’s involvement in media production and creation is changing; broadcasting now is contrasted by narrowcasting. Whilst institutions and technologies change and new ones come into play, the media environment changes respectively vis-a-vís audience’s knowledge, participation and expectations. On this media change, it is important to know what interpellation is in relation to a media audience.

Interpellation:

The process by which individuals/readers are ‘hailed’ – in other words when the individual is prompted by a text to recognise him or herself as being a subject that belongs in a role
Louis Althusser

Throughout all forms of media – cinema, television, social media, visual art, advertising – the association and relationship the audience feels towards the text is always a primary concern. As the audience becomes more ‘active’ with media, so too must the depth of relatable material presented. This ‘active’ participation in media by the audience is generally associated with fan-made adaptations. In the lectorial, we watched Jonathan Krisel’s Portlandia episode “One Moore Episode” where the audience’s involvement in media is comically scrutinised. Centring around Fred’s and Carrie’s appreciation and then obsession with Battlestar Galactica, “One Moore Episode” is definitive in its intention: audience participation is at an all-time high and fans demand more and more from the media that they interact with.

VII

Posted on by under manifest

8:52pm on 22nd April 2015
I sit down by the Yarra river on the Arts Centre’s side opposite Flinders Street Station. I am overwhelmed by the soundscape of reality: the lusting of the wind; the electronic music surrounding me; the trains to-and-from Flinders; the sounds of footsteps on the concrete; and the conversations surrounding me (both on my side and the opposite side of the river). Suddenly, a saxophone. Where is this saxophone’s sound protruding from? Is it close? Is it far? To tell the truth, I am unsure. Perhaps under the Princes Bridge? Nonetheless, it is irrelevant. The opening notes of Gerry Rafferty’s Baker Street is indescribably controlling. My ears suddenly hone in on the saxophone’s beauty and kill off every other external sound. I am overcome by a wave of sincerity and calmness that is unparalleled.

My riverside relaxing perception of the sonic environment was skewed. The technical aspects, temporal aspects, interactions of sounds, associative and emotional aspects of sound and the origin of the sounds was altered. Media’s manipulation of sound can trick the ear into mirroring the occurrence by the Yarra River. Editing in media goes hand-in-hand with sound to create this focal effect, which I will probably study in Project Brief 4.

Media One Practical 7: This Is Going To Be Fucked Up

Posted on by under Practicals

30 April

 

PROJECT BRIEF 4. Capitals was a necessary textual function for the commencement of this post. I am THAT excited for Project Brief 4; I feel elated. Sasha, Monaliza and I are very driven and motivated for this assignment. We have similar interests and are similarly inappropriate and ‘unprofessionally sexual’: I love it. This assignment is going to turn out the way we want it to – high quality, controversial, provocative, and explicit. Moving to Melbourne I had hoped that I would meet friends like my ones back home, where I feel really comfortable talking about anything and exploring ‘explicit’ subjects. This next assignment is going to be GROUSE and I know it. I need to be more positive and optimistic so I am going to have high hopes for this assessment. With high hopes comes high marks.

Our topic is Media ‘Texts’. That is it; a broad subject really. Sasha, Monaliza and I had a lot to discuss and a lot of ideas to sift through. We have mutually agreed that we wish to explore Youth Culture, Popular Culture, and Drug and Alcohol Culture in our work. But how to do this through ‘Texts’? What is a Media text? Basically it is anything through an aspect of media that intends to convey an idea, message, meaning and so on. Sasha, Monaliza and I are very interested in postmodernity, psychoanalysis and sexuality. We really want to explore disjointed narratives, implicit and underlying meanings, and intense psychoanalytical textual analysis. I am looking forward to this project and working with great minds.

Media One Lectorial 8: Crescendoing Clap for Dan

Posted on by under Lectorials

28 April

The stuff of story is alive but intangible
Robert McKee

Everything is Story and Story is Everything. Dan’s lectorial on Narrative and Non-narrative was enthralling and refreshing. With a primary focus on narrative causality, Dan introduced us to three functioning models of causality: character development, plot, and resolution. Causality, cause and effect, in narratives is the logical progression of one to the next (or a purposefully logical out-of-sequence progression). The ‘pattern of expectations’ was also discussed in relation to narrative storytelling. Dan’s lectorial was idiosyncratic as I noticed everyone was very much so captured by his charisma and quirky deliverance. Red Hot Riding Hood by Tex Avery was hilarious and related perfectly to the lectorial’s focus. Its very adult themes and narrative had me remembering Cory Edwards’ Hoodwinked!, an adaptation film that was very successful. For the group exercise on narrative structure and character prevalence, my group – encouraged by me – chose Disney’s The Little Mermaid naturally. My engagement and captivation was unparalleled; Disney titillates me.

We Have Decided Not To Die by Daniel Askill was the screened non-narrative short film. Its three-sector composition, eerie continuous music and repeated patterns across each sector can induce both narrative and non-narrative readings. Thematically and visually similar, the three sectors depict three figures that can be understood to be aspects of the same person’s psyche, aspects of multiple persons’ psyches or multiple narrative plots. The short-film is extremely interesting and due to these possible readings – and technically infinite if your mind has been destroyed by literary criticism – every viewer reads the short-film differently. My reading upon first viewing was as follows: the progression, deterioration and repetition of mental health for people suffering from anxiety and depression. My second viewing, however, ensued the following reading: a person’s struggle with split-personality disorder is improving as they ‘murder’ their split-personalities through the assistance of a psychologist and anti-depressant medication. In reflection of my two readings, I can see that firstly I am completely bonkers and secondly I have taken a reader-centred and psychoanalytical approach to the readings.

I enjoy both narrative and non-narrative stories; I get certain unique satisfactions out of each of them. I suppose it is often dependent on my present mood and present situation when watching these films that determines my preference. For Project Brief 4, I would like to present non-narrative concepts through narrative storytelling. We shall see.

 

VIII

Posted on by under Readings

26 April

 

The writer places time, money and people at risk because his ambition has life-defining force. What’s true for the writer is true for every character he creates

In Robert McKee’s ‘The Substance of Story’, the substance is defined as the nucleus to the story: “alive but intangible”. This reading highly focused on the Protagonist in stories and their necessary qualities as characters who inspire and are well-regarded. According to McKee, Protagonists are evidently: wilful; have conscious desires; have self-contradictory unconscious desires; have a capacity to pursue their Object of Desire convincingly; have a chance to attain their desires; cause closure at the ‘end’ of the story; and are empathetic. I agree, I disagree; I am befuddled. In order to determine my level of agreement on the matter, I consulted the second reading – ‘Casablanca’ by Umberto Eco.

a cult movie must display some organic imperfections… To become cult, a movie should not display a central idea but many. It should not exhibit a coherent philosophy of composition.

Ah, yes. Finally some clarity. My mind’s hazed-cloud of opinion has been blown away (or has possibly slowly dripped and fallen during precipitation of the quote). By using Casablanca as a case study, Eco reveals how the cult film embodies five genres in the space of two minutes. Which leads me to my overarching perspective: intertextual referencing by postmodernity.

Yes, McKee’s Protagonist qualities are common and anticipated in cinema history and future respectively. My view, however, is that the manifest of these qualities is directly associated with the degree of ‘cult-ness’: the superfluous nature of these qualities intensifies dependent on the level of ‘cult’ – or postmodernity. This goes hand-in-hand with the “text based on text” and “cinema based on cinema” realisation. There is no true original text; they are inevitably influenced by predecessor texts and societal/cultural knowledges. My own example to support my perspective is Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore – arguably a text thats degree of postmodernity is almost unparalleled – with intertextual referencing to: Western and Eastern cultural texts; Western and Eastern music; Western and Eastern celebrities; Western and Eastern food… Basically Western and Eastern everything. The synthesis of Western and Eastern cultures and texts enforces a postmodern explosion of intertextuality. Through all of this, the Protagonist’s association to McKee’s qualities of a Protagonist is ostensibly variant. Reading Kafka, the Protagonist: is not wilful but random; has no conscious desires whatsoever; has unconscious desires that not even the reader knows upon the completion of the text; cannot pursue the Object of Desire convincingly as the Protagonist acknowledges ‘his’ unconvincing nature; attains minor desires through no force of his own; causes an opposition of ‘closure’ at the end of the text; and is neither empathetic or sympathetic to the readers. After this, you may think that Kafka on the Shore is probably a stupid fucking novel. It’s postmodernism and opposition to stereotypical Protagonist qualities, however, solidifies it as a cult text. Therefore, it is my view, that as McKee’s qualities of a Protagonist wane, the degree of postmodernism encourages the attribution of a text as part of cult-culture.

 

Week 7: Readings Regarding Media ‘Texts’ and Textual Analysis

Posted on by under Readings

24 April

 

Victor Burgin’s Looking at Photographs (Ch. 6) – ‘Thinking Photography, 1982

In Looking at Photographs, Burgin discusses photography in particular as a media ‘text’:

Photographs are texts… what we may call photographic discourse… [which] is the site of a complex ‘intertextuality’.

As an introductory reading to media ‘texts’, the analysis and deconstruction on photography is quite interesting. In relation to the textual analysis applied to photography and media ‘texts’ in general, Burgin discusses semiology:

Semiotics or semiology is the study of signs, with the object of identifying the systematic regularities from which meanings are construed.

The focus on semiotics in the reading drew parallels to this week’s lectorial discussion whereby semiotic textual analysis was introduced. Signs, denotations and connotations, and codes are primary aspects of semiology. The chapter concluded with a description of the four ostensible types of ‘look’ in a photograph: the look of the camera; the look of the viewers’ perspective; the ‘intra-diegetic’ looks exhanged between subjects and objects in the photograph; and the look the subject gives to the camera.The reading was a good introduction to semiotics however did not go into much depth in relation to what a media ‘text’ is. The second reading, however, did.

Gill Branston’s & Roy Stafford’s Approaching media texts – ‘The media student’s book’, 2010

[Media texts] are seen as actually structuring the very realities which they seem to ‘describe’ or ‘stand in for’.

In structuralist analysis of texts and semiotics, the text is considered a highly structured work that’s intentional deconstruction of this structure generates meaning. Textual analysis is easily supported through evidential aspects of the text. The two approaches to media texts are qualitative and quantitative, or semiotic and content, analysis.

With semiotic analysis we, the audience, are called ‘readers’, partly as a way of emphasising that we are dealing with something learnt rather than ‘natural’ and partly to indicate the degree of activity needed to make sense of signs.

Quantitative or content analysis, on the other hand, focuses on the parallels and patterns between the aspects of texts and the intertextual relationships with other texts – both explicitly represented and alluded to. Charles Sanders Peirce states that there are three types of signs in relation to semiotics:

Symbol: Signs for which the relation is arbitrary… there is no necessary connection
Icon: Signs which resemble what they stand for
Index: Casual link between the sign and what it stands for

Index is the type of sign that is most subjective in semiotics and can generate different meanings dependent on the knowledge of the ‘viewer’: their personal knowledge and experiences; their opinions and perspectives; their goals and motivations.

I am now feeling crazily nostalgic this week in relation to the lectorial’s focus and the readings. I am brought back to my prior learnings of the four approaches to meaning in texts: author-centred, reader-centred, textual analysis, and world-context approaches. I would like to delve into structuralism, post-structuralism, marxism and psychoanalysis again for Project Brief 4; I think they will amazingly compliment the semiotics of textual analysis. My group has been given ‘texts’ as our basis.

Reflection on Sasha’s Portrait

Posted on by under Practicals, RMIT

23 April

 

The intial conception of Sasha’s portrait on Carmen-Sibha Keiso is that it is rudimentary. But no, it isn’t; rudimentary is the wrong word. I would describe, in two words, Sasha’s portrait as gorgeously simplistic. With such a charismatic subject, Sasha’s stripped interview with a minimalistic setting worked well. Sasha chose to use as little ‘found footage’ as possible, which also worked with his subject. It is all dependant on context and the human subject. When ‘found footage’ was evident, it was Carmen-Sibha’s own work which I thought was astutely chosen in terms of presenting a portrait of her. I think that the way the piece opens and ends abruptly without any sense of ‘beginning’ or ‘end’ worked well in terms of this portrait as the subject did not need this; I could understand her personality and motivations by the simplistic non-narrative style. Whilst not technically brilliant, Sasha’s construction of his portrait was intentionally simple and I believe it worked very well.

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