Project Brief four was definitely the most challenging of the project briefs we have done so far. It was a collaborative work with 2 other people and that for me was a different experience. We were given the topic of institutions, which sounded daunting at first but then with research we narrowed the subject to focus on cinema as an institution.

We wrote two essays for this project. I felt that the essays were well written overall but we definitely had a lot of repetition. It was difficult to find direct academic voices we could use. While there is a lot of academic work on cinema, there is very few that discuss cinema in relation to the developing digital landscape. I felt like we could have used a broader topic and perhaps split the essay into different sections, for example discussing the beginning, the golden age and digital age of cinema. We briefly mentioned the golden age of cinema but due to time constraints we could not discuss further. The most successful aspects of the essays would have to be our self-reflections written into the scripts. As we were writing we did wonder if digital technology would change cinema and we were uncertain if this was a good or a bad change, which reflected in the essays as we explored the possibilities.

During our workshops we decided the best thing to do would be to discuss Cinema in general and find a topic we could write about. We discussed the rise of Hollywood in relation to World War 2, the influence of Hollywood, diversity in cinema and how cinema is changing in the 21st century. We offhandedly mentioned the Screening Room but with discussion and encouragement from Brian we decided to research Sean Parker’s new project more deeply.

During the lectorials and workshops we focused on issues surrounding media, for example piracy, copyright etc. which are all issues that encompass media and its institutions. After listening to my peers in class talk about their own topics, I created an image of media in my mind. At the top is media written in capitals, which is the split into four other categories: texts and narratives, institutions, mediums and audiences. Somewhere on this graph are also affordances. These four categories are all inter-connected and woven seamlessly. To use cinema as an example, cinema is an institution reliant on audiences to view, texts to create and medium technologies to deliver/stream.

The audio essay intrigued me the most because of the affordances of sound alone. Being able to convey a message using layers of different sounds was both a complex process and also interesting to do. With the audio essay, we had to use our voices in a certain way to convey and explain the topic at hand. I found it extremely challenging to get into character and use my voice in a way that it should be listened to. With audio, we could be hearing but not listening meaning that voices and noises used in audio essays have to be attention grabbing. While recording we had to make sure that the sound was only us, making sure there was not any background noise. Since audio is only listened to, any noise that does not match the flow or the audio essay is easily distinguishable and unwanted noise. We also realized that audio recorders detect low level sounds, like the sounds made by the computer which we had not noticed as we were recording our voices. The video essay was easier to do, knowing that the used footage would be accompanied and supported by the essay. With videos it was difficult to find footage to accompany the essay, due to time constraints, we could not film sufficient enough videos and opted to use found footage. Since we were allowed to use copyrighted footage, it was easier to use a variety of films and short clips.

Throughout this semester and this collaboration project I learnt that the convenience of Facebook and Google drive is life saving. In a group of people, some are free and some are not, some live nearby and others don’t so the important thing is consideration and working around people. If we could not find the time to meet, it was essential for our group to utilise any spare time we had chatting. We split the work load as much as we could and our project is reflective of our individual selves aswell as us in a group. No one tried to be the dominating figure and we all contributed as best as we could. As a media practitioner, I have learnt that the most important thing while working in a group is maintaining professionalism. We maintained an equal professional and personal relationship, which is why we were all hard working and considerate of each other as fellow students and media practitioners.